The Great Western Railway and the Celebration of Englishness

Home , Atlantic Coast Express, Birkenhead Dock Branch, Birnbeck Pier, Boscombe railway station, Cheddar Valley line, Cornwall Railway

THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY AND THE CELEBRATION OF ENGLISHNESS

D.Phil. RAILWAY STUDIES I.R.S.

OCTOBER 2000 THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY AND THE CELEBRATION OF ENGLISHNESS

ALAN DAVID BENNETT M.A.

D.Phil. RAILWAY STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF YORK

INSTITUTE OF RAILWAY STUDIES

OCTOBER 2000 ABSTRACT

This thesis identifies the literary work of the Great Western Railway as marking a significant contribution to the discourse of cultural representation over the first four decades of the twentieth century and particularly so for the inter-war era. The company's work is considered in the context of definitive and invariably complex cultural perspectives of its day, as mediated through the examination of the primary literature, company works and other related sources, together with the historiographical focus of latterday analysis. G.W.R. literary perspectives - historical, political, commercial-industrial

and aesthetic - are thus compared and contrasted with both rival and convergent repre-

sentations and contextualised within the process of historical development and ideolog-

ical differentiations.

Within this perspective of inter-war society, the G.W.R. literature is considered

according to four principal themes: the rural-traditional representation and related historical-cultural identification in the perceived sense of inheritance and providential mission; the company's extensive industrial interests, wherein regional, national and international perspectives engaged a commercial-cultural construction of Empire; the

'Ocean Coast' imagery - the cultural formulation of the seashore in terms of a taxonomy of landscapes and resorts according to the structural principles of protocol, expectation and clientele and, finally, that of Anglo-Saxon-Celtic cultural characterisations with its agenda of ethnicity and gender, central in the context of this work to the definition of

Englishness and community.

This thematic structure directly engages the then, as now, controversial discussion of the properties of past and present, continuity and change and urban and rural identifications. In also engaging the wider and necessary themes of the cultural history of railways generally, of place marketing and of the nature and principles of nationalism in the construction of cultural identity, this thesis locates the literary work of the G.W.R. in an historical, cultural context that contributes to ongoing discussion of the character and definition of Englishness. CONTENTS

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE IMAGERY AND ENTERPRISE page 1

CHAPTER TWO INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS page 30

CHAPTER THREE LANDSCAPE, LITERATURE AND STYLISTIC DIFFERENTIALS: THE WYE VALLEY AND THE COTSWOLDS page 49

CHAPTER FOUR THE CELTIC SUBLIME page 76

CHAPTER FIVE ANGLO-AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES page 110

CHAPTER SIX THE OCEAN COAST page 145

CHAPTER SEVEN SOUTHERN RAILWAY PERSPECTIVES page 174

CHAPTER EIGHT SOMERSEST: THE COUNTY CONCEPT page 212

Conclusion page 237

Bibliography page 242 i

Introduction

This work examines the extensive literature produced by the Great Western

Railway over the first forty years of the twentieth century, with particular reference to the inter-war era when the output was most prolific and the content and style at its most challenging and dynamic. The thesis contributes to several debates in the field of cultural history, more particularly those about railways and notions of Englishness, name- ly: the cultural history of railways, the role of place marketing, the cultural construction of Englishness in terms of representations of landscape and identity and historical-cultural considerations of nationalism and ethnicity.

Michael Freeman has recently called for historians to situate their railway research

"within the wider cultural frame of which it is indissoluably part'..." and of their need to locate work "more clearly within their cultural milieux [and] to think more carefully about the intellectual frame within which their studies are cast."2 Freeman's own work,

'Railways and the Victorian Imagination', 1999, 3 in line with earlier studies addressing the cultural theme - Wolfgang Schivelbusch, 1977, 4 the even earlier work by Harold

Perkin, 197O5 or Jack Simmons, 1991 6 - focused on the long nineteenth century and to

1914. The thematic focus is, perhaps, summarised by Nicholas Faith: "The modern world began with the coming of the railway. They turned the known universe upside- down. They made a greater and more immediate impact than any other mechanical or industrial innovation before or since."7

Freeman notes the dearth of literature on the twentieth century. 8 An exception is J.

Richards and J.M. MacKenzie's 'The Railway Station: a social history', 1986,9 a study of great range which engages with the inter-war and post-1945 periods. But generally ii works on the cultural history of railways in the inter-war era are conspicuous by their absence. This thesis addresses that theme in an analysis of the substantive works of the

Great Western and, in counterpoint, those of the Southern Railway. The subject has not been entirely neglected. Roger Burdett Wilson's 'Go Great Western. A History of

G.W.R. Publicity' 1970 10 offers an anthology of the literature, poster work and miscel- laneous promotory materials produced by the company but there is no discussion of content nor of any thematic development of cross-company comparisons in content, style or of general cultural contextualisation of railway and society.

Other studies have attempted this in a different context. Alan R. Jackson,

1973/1991 11 for example, identifies the railways as central to the development of [the character, structure and style] suburban lifestyle. In so doing, Jackson correlates the wider cultural history of railways with that of place marketing, a factor emphasised by

John Beckerson.12

Place marketing is integral within this historiographical perspective. Stephen Ward identifies this concept as "a broad entrepreneurial ethos or ideology" 13 that effectively synchronises the commercial and cultural representations of locations, regions, people, experiences and events. This process relates directly to the G.W.R.'s practices. Looking particularly at tourism, the place marketing principle is reflected in the company's identification of cultural themes and the process of social differentiation that defined them.

For example, the railway created a taxonomy of resorts, historical sites and landscape.

This is expressed in terms of 'English' and 'Celtic' representations which are only com- prehensible by reference to the particular locations and the related ensemble of received cultural, political and idealogical identifications, expectations and protocol; to the essential social and cultural differentiations that defined them. 14 John Urry's work on the objects of the tourist gaze and the "variety of discourses" 15 therein is significant here, but will be considered below. iii

Stephen Ward's 'Selling Places', has included the railway companies' contributions to place marketing, identifying the differentiated status and character of the holiday resort in a broad national and international context. He has also dealt with the railways' initiatives in terms of suburban development and industrial interests. But railway- focused place marketing has not been extensively or systematically analysed. In particular, no-one has carried out a detailed study of a specific railway company such as this one of the G.W.R. It is needed because, until the Second World War, the railways were the major providers of inland transport over any but the shortest of distances and, hence, one of the most significant institutions to be involved in place marketing. The G.W.R. was one of the most important and enterprising of the railway companies. Its record also serves as a basis for comparison and contrast with other railway companies, other forms of transport and, indeed, for comparative studies of other countries and their relative achievements - although these tasks are not attempted here.

Some idea of the G.W.R.'s importance may be had from its role in the Travel

Association of Great Britain. Beckerson argues that the 'Come To Britain Movement', dating from 1926, 16 and, later, reformulated as 'The Travel Association of Great Britain and Ireland' was "one of the first groups to draw attention to the economic benefits of foreign visitors to the U.K.... It was a key plank in the strategy of the Travel

Association." 17 The role of the railway companies and, specifically, the contribution of the G.W.R., in developing the potential of the Travel Association through innovative marketing, was considerable and should be noted. Felix Pole was the only general manager from the four railway companies to attend the first meeting of the provisional committee of the Travel Association on 26 February 1929. 18 The company, for example, played a prominent role in the campaign for fiscal reform in terms of prohibitive taxes on visitors to Britain and advocated the extension of rateable levies, nationally and locally, to provide for increased tourist marketing and amenities.19

The Travel Association's efforts to encourage foreign tourists, particularly iv

Americans, to visit Britain were directed at the impact of the historical-cultural experience and encounter which was particularly celebrated in the G.W.R.'s literature.

Place marketing identifies and develops various aspects of tourists' cultural experience and expectations. In developing the notion of 'the tourist gaze', John Urry, for example, argues that tourists experience places through the lens of various cultural formulations. He categorises these in binary form: "romantic/collective; historical/modern; and authentic/inauthentic." 20 These oppositions are developed further in particular discourses. A discourse of education, for example, identifies cultural sites with their directed gaze; health - as in the restorative and recreational properties of environment, hiking, camping, golfing, fishing and the whole panoply of sporting activities with their attendant social and cultural delineations - and organised party or individual encounters, as in the pursuit of the contemplative gaze. Urry also stresses the distinction between the tourist gaze and that of his/her 'normal' or 'non-tourist' activities, which is identified in the concept of 'departure'. 21 The tourist's expectations were central to the entire holiday experience, looking to participation in various 'special' activities identified in organised events, encounters and places. Place marketing thus anticipates and prefigures the desired experience in its provision of appropriate imagery and representation.

The G.W.R.'s literary and visual representations drew heavily upon the concept of

'departure'. Departure could assume an historical form, an aesthetic experience, (as with the Celtic sublime) or the hedonistic pleasures of the seaside, for example. G.W.R. marketing also stressed the experience of the journey itself in its various forms, as a spectacle, an adventure and often as a unique and glamourous event, in the general context of service, en-route as reflected in matters of speed, safety, efficiency and modernity. These were brought together in "prestige advertising" , 22 a dimension of place marketing not widely recognised by historians beyond the present-day context of nostalgic representation or that as evidence for technical-engineering interests. The broader social and cultural significance of the experience and impact of the journey itself has not been V developed to any considerable extent, despite the fact that railway literature generally, and, indeed, poster work, drew particular attention to this essential element of company identity.

Extended and serious consideration of issues such as those indicated above, can, however, be seen in the literature relating to railway posters. Here analysis focuses on questions of imagery, composition, style, etc., looking beyond the popular, present-day agenda of nostalgia and whimsy. For example, Beverley Cole and Richard Durack,

1992,23 and Tony Hillman and Beverley Cole, 1999 24 analyse poster work in its historical, social and cultural context, seeing it as a dynamic expression of specific periods, places and, indeed, the projected and desired miseen scene. Ralph Harrington's

'Perceptions of the locomotive driver', 1997,25 enlists various literary formats and visual representations to convey the differing imagery and perception of the driver in historical and social, cultural terms. The interactive relationship of railway and society is directly engaged.

Historical-cultural considerations of the nature and structure of Englishness were central to the G.W.R.'s literature. They have been the subject of considerable debate amongst historians but not, of course, in the context of this company. the G.W.R.'s literary focus was primarily that of a celebration of English cultural achievements defined in terms of historical progression, rooted in the ethnic properties of an Anglo-Saxon inheritance and manifested in a statement of a determined mission. This required the definition of a community as a 'nation' conforming and corresponding to certain images and associations - historic, locational, political, aesthetic, linguistic - that were readily identifiable by all in membership. The work of E.J. Hobsbawm and Ernest Gellner, 26 for example, Benedict Anderson's 'imagined community' and Anthony Smith's analysis of

'poetic spaces' and 'golden ages' 27 are particularly useful in understanding these cultural formulations. vi

Anderson defines the nation as "an imagined political community - and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign."28 He emphasises the impact of 'print capitalism' - English as "a language of power", 29 for example, which, when formulated and projected as "a national print-language" 30 celebrated the collective, structural properties shaping the nation. Anderson identifies material progress-print capitalism, railways and steamships, the motor car, aviation and mass education as "the fruits of industrial capitalism."31 These were the agents both of unification "which made it possible for rapidly growing numbers of people to think about themselves and relate themselves to others in profoundly new ways" 32 and of differentiation. The community, imagined, "is always conceived as a deep horizontal comradeship" 33 identified in the collective and exclusive language of "us, we, ours", as distinguished from "them, they" and "theirs". But within his broad terms of reference, Anderson can only indicate the role of railways as vital agents in the process of national unification, integration and cultural representation. This thesis thus supplements Anderson's analysis by examining the G.W.R.'s contribution to the development of the imagined community. This is particularly so, in the case of the company's Anglo-American orientation and the historical-cultural imagery and associations of the "Mother Country", "Mother England", the "Brethren Of The Mystic Tie",34 and the sustained reference to heritage as, "ours", for example.

Anthony Smith focuses more on the role of the past - place and event - in shaping notions of national identity. He analyses the structured, composite representations, reflecting modern, organised industrial society - the 'garden culture', in a carefully nur- tured and directed sense - and that of the 'wild cultures' - "pre-modern epochs, names, memories, territories, cultures, identities." 35 Smith argues that the wild and garden cultures are both essential components forming "the foundations and plan on which the national edifice is constructed and without which it would lack political definition."36

His concepts of 'poetic space' and 'golden ages' emphasise the construction of the nation around the sense of "an ancient core" and, with this, the role of history and land- vii

scape as "essential vehicles and moulds for nation building." 37 Smith's focus upon "the fusion of community and terrain through the identification of natural with historical sties,"38 likewise, his emphasis on the need to recognise and understand "the ways in which myths and symbols, values and memories shape the nation-to-be" 39 are essential elements in the structural development of the G.W.R.'s historical-cultural representation of Englishness as complex and dynamic.

The discovery of rural England in its various cultural forms, literary, visual, recreational and, perhaps, most immediate, yet elusive, in musical representation, Revill,

200040, was a development closely associated with the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was a process which gathered momentum during the inter-war years to become widespread and substantial, cultural focus. Moreover, it was a 'discovery' that, in style and theme, took many forms, being driven by complex and often competing political, social, economic and aesthetic perspectives, as Patrick Wright 1985,1996,

David Matless, 1998 and Philip Wilkinson, 1999 41 , for example, demonstrate. The

G.W.R.'s work was by no means specialised or unique in its literary or visual imagery; it drew upon popular, recognised cultural symbols and, in this sense, was but one of many constructions. Its distinctive character, however, lay in the company's collective impact - its binary representation of urban-rural, past-present and regional/national- international formulations. But these apparently stark opposites were always represented as capable of mutual assimilation and fusion. Harmony - social and natural - was a key theme.

In contrast with the G.W.R.'s approach, anti-industrial perspectives were also widespread, particularly in the literature of the inter-war period and in many later works relating to that era. An urban-rural juxtaposition was variously mediated through the properties of style and structure and in explicit statement. This representation is most famously and extensively analysed in Martin Weiner's work, 'English Culture and the VIII

Decline of the Industrial Spirit 1981, 42 This work, together with Correlli Barnett's 'The

Audit Of War', 1986 and, subsequently, 'The Lost Victory', 199543 have been identified

as central to the analysis of English cultural identity over the last two decades: Keith

Robbins, 199044 and George Revill, 2000.45 Two particular themes from the Weiner-

Barnett thesis bear directly on this present work.

Weiner asserts that Englishness was identified in the pastoral vision - "the green and pleasant land" - and that linked with industrialism - "the dark satanic mills" 46 - represented a cultural polarity. Furthermore he states: "The English nation even became ill at ease with its progeny to deny its legitimacy by adopting a conception of Englishness that virtually excluded industrialism."47 Barnett, identifying a profoundly pre-industrial conservative and nostalgic set of values and world view amongst the British ruling class, argues similarly that the educational system reinforced anti-industrial inclination, precip- itating a climate of economic decline. This perspective, however, has been subject to detailed challenges. Philip Williamson, 1999 48 for example, counters Weiner's dismissal of Stanley Baldwin as a retrospective thinker. Wilkinson emphasises Baldwin's concern for a dialogue between past and present, rural and urban perspectives and those of continuity and change. But further to this, Baldwin was also closely associated with the

G.W.R. in terms of its management and values. Alfred Baldwin, his father, had been a director from 1901-1905 and chairman from 1905-1908. Stanley Baldwin held a direc- torship from 1908-1917.49 In this context, and as counter-argument to Weiner, W.D.

Rubenstein, 199350, poses a question of sufficient resonance to encompass the G.W.R. thematically Far from demonstrating a nostalgic, misplaced outlook, Rubenstein asks:

was it not far more plausible that Baldwin was quite deliberately

signalling to a Britain undergoing enormous and unsettling political,

social and economic change, that the Conservative Party, at least,

understood and remembered England's great and glorious traditions

and appreciated its time-honoured values and heritage?5I ix

In a thematic focus that embraces the G.W.R.'s position, Rubenstein identifies parallels between Baldwin's regard for the past and that of Calvin Coolidge and his identification with the American West, declaring: "Certainly there is nothing whatever in any actual policy pursued by either man to suggest that they confused symbol and reality in any facet of economics or social life."52 Anthony Smith's analysis of 'golden ages' - "part of an elaborate nationalist mythology which sought to reconstruct out of received motifs a complete national trajectory" ... 53 has significance here and, again, no return to a golden age or imitation was envisaged, or attempted. Rubenstein identified not a process of retreat, refuge or decline, but, instead, "the successful unification of traditional aristocracy and the business and professional middle classes, especially in the south of

England."54

The interactive theme, the accommodation between urban and rural and national and international perspectives, was a process that can be traced back to, at least, the eighteenth century as Harold Perkin shows. 55 His work details the process described by

F.M.L. Thompson as the fusion of "old nobility" with "the new, industrial England".56

Identified as a period of significant adaptation and change, "an aristocracy of business and professional talents" 57 emerged and, as Perkin indicates, countering Weiner's perspective, this was driven by "the most economically progressive and profit-orientated ruling class in Europe."58

Geoffrey Channon's analysis of the G.W.R. has, similarly, detailed extensive aristocratic participation in railway boardrooms. 59 Emphasising the synthesis of middle class and aristocratic interest, Channon observes that "between 1880 and 1940 a new upper class seems to have emerged." 60 Channon identifies the railway boardroom as playing an especially important role in this synthesis. 61 This underlines the significance of railway interests and their ongoing impact upon social, economic, political and cultural development both prior to, and throughout, the period of study for this thesis.

Channon's research identifies the various influences and representations between landed x interests and those of finance and industry, defining the composition of the G.W.R. direc- torate into the twentieth century. In the context of vital synthesis and, in his assessment, that in the inter-war era, the distinction between the City and the landed and industrial elites had tended to diminish. Channon signals the contribution of railway-related interests to the historiographical focus in this period of significant adjustment and change.

Moreover, consistent with the synthesis of commerce, industry and politics, the

G.W.R.'s perspective reconciles the process of imperial development with other superficially antagonistic elements of its cultural perspectives. Far removed from a retrospective, insular representation of Englishness, such as that levelled by Weiner at Baldwin, the G.W.R. reconciled rural-traditional England with the dynamics of empire. Raymond

Williams62 has addressed the industrial-imperial network of interest and enterprise in terms of trade, manufactures and investment and the ways in which this enlisted a rural mode of display, emphasising the "cultural importance of rural ideas" 63 Rural England in the G.W.R. literature fulfils a symbiotic relationship with Empire as indicated and implied in the Cotswold reference earlier. On Baldwin's representation of rural England and Empire, Wilkinson states: "there was nothing paradoxical in saying that rural

England had helped to generate an overseas empire."64 In a similar vein, Bill Schwarz65 identifies the larger context of empire and, in doing so, highlights a further area of weakness and omission in Weiner's thesis and of the anti-industrial representation generally.

As we argue . . . that elusive, displaced notion of Englishness, appar-

ently so insular and self-contained, cannot be grasped without seeing

its intimate and complex connections to the wider imperial world.

England alone is a myth: potent, but false.66

This thesis develops this perspective.

David Matless offers further perspectives on Englishness and the theme of anti- industrialism. His work deserves some considerable attention because it demonstrates the historiographical pitfalls of ignoring the railway's contribution to the shaping of xi

Englishness.

Matless identifies H.V. Morton's work, particularly, 'In Search Of England', 192767 as a definitive literary development, arguing that it "can be credited as establishing a motoring pastoral genre. •"68 Identifying Morton's focus "on social and aesthetic distinctions, concerning how to look and who could see the countryside"69 Matless declares

Morton's particular distinction to be that of providing the perspective "of seeing on a national scale. Searching for England becomes a national movement with an equivalent of travel, literary format and scale of meaning."70

Morton may well be identified with the perspective of the motor car - "England through the rear mirror," 71 as Patrick Wright puts it - but the railway companies, and particularly the G.W.R., had long before established an extensive literature celebrating rural-traditional England. This literature differentiated between regions and nations, emphasising their particularly characteristics - historical, aesthetic, geo-cultural, ethnic, for example, whilst also integrating them structurally within the G.W.R.'s fold. The company thus reflected diversity within its collective identification. Moreover, the literary style and content varied depending on the intended audience. Thus, for example, as a prominent influence within the Travel Association of Great Britain and Ireland, the

G.W.R., along with all the other railway companies, developed representations of Britain designed to appeal to the widest international audiences.

Matless argues that Morton's was a national context but this is also problematic: likewise, the claim to the latter's 'modern' credentials. The G.W.R.'s much earlier claim to an extensive 'literary format and scale of meaning' has to be recognised but it is also evident that Matless' emphasis upon literary format and scale of meaning is question- able. An analysis of Morton's imagery, style, sentence construction, structure and thematic juxtaposition across the entirety of his work, reveals a decidedly nostalgic perspective. Morton's English landscapes are essentially stereotypes. The only appreciable differentiation in both content and style is that between the rural and industrial xii representations. Rural Warwickshire, for example, is interchangeable with

Herefordshire; Somerset with Shropshire. Similarly, Morton collapsed the entirety of industrial Britain into a mantra of disbelief and despair - ugliness, unrelieved: alienation, deformity, deprivation and gloom.

These points, taken together with Matless' identification of Morton's "harder racial edge,"72 of rural England, "ready to give its new blood to the towns, guarding the traditions of the race," 73 indicates "a scale of meaning" that conforms more to a nostalgic, retrospective aesthetically-inspired construction of Englishness than that reflected in the social and economic circumstances of the rural England of the inter-war period. The

G.W.R.'s literary perspective was in this respect more sophisticated and complex than

Morton's or, at least, in Matless' presentation of Morton. These particular examples indicate the ways in which a study of the G.W.R.'s record can inform the historiographical perspective of inter-war literary work on Englishness, setting it in wider terms of reference, engaging and augmenting existing historiographies.

Matless, together with others, Paul Fussell, 197574 and Jay Winter, 1995 75, notes the impact of the First World War as a 'great divide' in cultural, political, social and economic perspectives on Englishness. Anti-industrial sentiments, heavily accentuated by the experience of the Great War, resonated through inter-war society, nationally and internationally. Rural England as a refuge and as solace from war and all its associations was a compelling theme during this period, but the recognition and accommodation of the First World War in particular was a complex cultural experience. Again, detailed study of the G.W.R.'s travel literature reveals a subtler picture of the effects of that conflict than that provided by some other historians. Take, for example, Matless' portrayal of H.J. Massingham.

The Organic Movement as represented by Massingham was defined in the context of 'great divide', the 'Machine Age' and its predicted, inevitable outcome: World War.

Matless considers the organicist perspective as portrayed by Massingham as emphasising xiii the themes of peace, harmony and continuity; of man with nature, and of his relationship to the soil. At one level Massingham's 'Cotswold Country'. 1937, 76 seems to address very similar themes and images as the G.W.R.'s literature on the Cotswolds.

Both presented the qualities of harmony and continuity and, likewise, engaged the theme of World War One and its impact. But a more careful reading reveals their particular representations of landscape, society and development, past and present, to be sharply divergent. Whilst the G.W.R. literature shared Massingham's focus on harmony, it was formulated according to a different set of principles and standards which commemorat- ed and, crucially, accommodated World War One. The G.W.R.'s Cotswold material projected a much more nationalistic representation of the landscape, imagined (after the manner of Benedict Anderson) in terms of duty, respect, memory, reverence and patriotic purpose. This, of course, engages nationalistic perspectives as examined by

Hobsbawm, 1990 and Smith, 1996 and was fundamental to Fussell's and Winter's work on the cultural impact of the Great War.

These works indicate the various ways in which rural representations of

Englishness related to Flanders and the Somme. They also show how the rural-historical tradition was accommodated with that of modern industrial-based experience.

Fussell and Winter convey the deep psychological impact of World War One and in the

G.W.R.'s literature the significance of the war is expressed in the imagery and stylistic presentation and, not least, in terms of a carefully constructed, historical discourse. This theme also exemplifies a further expression of rural-urban dialogue. Perceived as a landscape reflecting the properties of harmony and tradition, with the attendant associations of remembrance and commemoration, the war memorials of town and village sustain a dialogue of national resonance with the Cenotaph in both formal state ceremonial and in terms of instinctive identifications after the manner of form of Smith's "garden" and

"wild cultures". The deeply historical representation of the G.W.R.'s work in reference to the theme of warfare and national imagery thus goes to the core of Englishness and xiv therein engages Linda Colley's77 analysis of the constituent features of national identification and, indeed, its European and internationally focused perspectives.

Images and representations of Englishness were and still are closely associated with the landscape and historical, cultural perspectives of Southern England - the South

Country; the Southern Metaphor. This is a well-rehearsed representation. Matless examines it78 and, long before, Edward Thomas, 190979, presented his hymn of praise,

'The South Country'. This metaphor was also extensively employed by Weiner to construct a north-south divide, culturally. Important as it undoubtedly was, the north-south axis was not, however, the principal orientation in terms of the G.W.R.'s construction of

Englishness. The east-west juxtaposition, that is between the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic characterisations, was arguably more prominent. There is, of course, a considerable body of literature which examines the construction of Celtic identity in terms of a relationship between a cultural 'centre' and that of a subordinate 'periphery'. Recent research by Simon James, 1999, Murray G.H. Pittock, 1999 or David Brett, 1996, 80 for example, locates the Celtic representation within a discourse of Anglo-Saxon-formulated cultural authority. Hugh Kearney, 1989, 81 considers Wales in terms of an English colony, a perspective that, with the particular exception of industrial South Wales82, was closely paralleled in the G.W.R.'s work. Pittock, likewise, addresses this colonial construction, observing: "There are too many tempting parallels to the imperial experience elsewhere to dismiss the argument." 83 Gwyneth Tyson Roberts' 'Under The Hatches.

Views of People and Language of Mid-nineteenth century Wales', 1996 84 examines the work of English Parliamentary Commissioners in terms of 'cultures of progress' and

'cultures of survival' wherein creativity and authority were ascribed to English influence.

A discourse of ethnicity and gendering identified the respective Anglo-Saxon and

Celtic characterisations, designating the former as 'masculine', the latter as 'feminine'. xv

Malcolm Chapman, 1992 85 and, more recently, Pittock, 1999, have emphasised the importance of the mid and late eighteenth century discovery of the Celtic sublime and the crucial contributions of Ernest Renans' Poesic de Race Celtique', 1860 86 and

Matthew Arnold's 'The Study Of Celtic Literature' 1867 87 in framing the distinctions between and, therein, the relationship between, Anglo-Saxon and Celt. The Anglo-

Saxon, 'masculine' construction was that of the historically-defined, dynamic, political and commercially-minded practitioner; the Celt, by contrast, was the exemplification of feminine attributes, defined as ahistorical, aesthetically-composed, mysterious and essentially 'natural', imbued with properties of 'otherness'. Anglo-Saxon energy and worldly mission was juxtaposed with the Celtic heritage of a poetic, mythical, ancient past.

Whilst this perspective generally has been the subject of recent critical reappraisal,

Hale and Payton Ed, 2000,88 it was very largely the context for the G.W.R.'s Celtic representation. Structurally and thematically, the Celtic characterisation stood in counterpoint to the Anglo-Saxon, English agenda and thereby signalled dimensions of

Englishness, by comparison. But for all the indications of English hegemony, it is clear that the Celtic heritage was prized and extensively celebrated by the G.W.R. The suggestion of ambivalence here might well refer us to Matthew Arnold's plea for the unification of the best qualities of Anglo-Saxon and Celt, or, indeed, to imagery of the 'bor- derland' between upland and lowland England and Wales. Celtic 'myth' and English

'history' that contesting versions of 'Englishness' find the space to define themselves so fully. Revill, 2000.89 In this context we, again, engage with the theme of accommodation and reconciliation pursued throughout this work.

This historiographical survey has indicated the ways in which the literature and role of railways, generally, and the G.W.R., specifically, reflect cultural interests and developments through the first four decades of the twentieth century. It also identifies areas where railway enterprise has been largely overlooked and, likewise, others where its xvi influence and impact was decisive. This study demonstrates that a detailed analysis of the G.W.R.'s travel literature leads to a subtler appreciation of key issues in the construction of Englishness - the rural-industrial and past-present configurations, the resonances of World War One, the perspectives of empire in terms of a 'Little England' ret- rospect and that of the dynamics of 'Greater Britain', and, not least, the signification of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic lexicon of ethnicity and gendering. In content and style the literature offers challenging perspectives indicative of the company's identification with the wider community in cultural, political, historical and commercial terms. The

G.W.R.'s regional-national-international credentials, taken together with its direct and necessary involvement with events great and small, particularly through a period when railways were in the forefront of economic, cultural and social life, means that an analysis of the G.W.R.'s record provides a worthwhile contribution to the literature on English cultural identity. xvii

References

Introduction

1/ Michael Freeman. The railway as cultural metaphor. 'What kind of railway history?' revisited. The Journal of Transport History 20/2 February 1999 PP160-167 (P161)

2/ Ibid P165

3/ Michael Freeman. Railways and the Victorian Imagination. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1999

4/ Wolfgang Schivelbusch. The Railway Journey. The Industrialisation of Time and Space in the Nineteenth Century. Berg Leamington Spa/Hamburg/New York, 1977.

5/ Harold Perkin. The Age of the Railway, London. 1970.

6/ Jack Simmons. The Victorian Railway, Thames and Hudson, London 1991.

7/ Nicholas Faith. The World the Railways Made. Bodley Head, London, 1990. Pl.

8/ Michael Freeman. Railways. . . Victorian Imagination P19/247.

9/ J. Richards and J.M. Mackenzie. The Railway Station: a social history. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1986.

10/ Roger Burdett Wilson. Go Great Western. A History of G.W.R. Publicity. David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1970.

11/ Alan A. Jackson. Semi-Detached London. Wild Swan, Didcot 1991.

12/ John Beckerson. Making Leisure Pay: The Business of Tourist Marketing in Great Britain 1880 - 1950. Journal of Business.

13/ Stephen Ward. Selling Places. The marketing and promotion of towns and cities, 1850-2000. E and F Spon, Routledge London. 1998. P3.

14/ Alain Corbin. The Lure Of The Sea. The discovery of the seaside 1750-1840, Penguin, London 1995. See Chapter 11, 'Inventing the Beach PPs 250- 281.

15/ John Urry. The Tourist Gaze, Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies, Sage, London, 1990.

16/ John Beckerson. Making Leisure Pay 135 xviii

17/ Ibid P6.

18/ The British Travel Association 10929 - 1969. British Tourist Authority, London 1970,. PP2-3, P6 for reference to Local Authorities (Publicity) Act 1931, enabling halfpenny in the pound levy for promotion of "commercial, historical, scenic, recreational, curative or climatic" amenities.

19/ G.W.R. Magazine. Britain's Increased Tourist Traffic, October 1935, P540.

20/ John Urry. Tourist Gaze, P135.

21/ Ibid P2

22/ G.E. Orton. Railway Publicity. G.W.R. (London) Lecture and Debating Society, October 1934. P5.

23/ Beverley Cole and Richard Durack. Railway Posters 1923 - 1947. National Railway Museum, Laurence King, London 1992.

24/ Beverley Cole and Tony Hillman. South For Sunshine, Southern Railway Publicity and Posters 1923 to 1947. National Railway Museum, Capital Transport, London 1999.

25/ Ralph Harrington. Perceptions of the locomotive driver: image and identity on British railways C1840-C1950. Institute of Railway Studies, York. 1999.

26/ E.J. Hobsbawm. Nations and Nationalism since 1780. Programme, Myth, Reality. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. Ernest Gellner. Nations and Nationalism. Blackwell, Oxford, 1983.

27/ Benedict Anderson. Imagined Communities, Verso, London 1983. Anthony D. Smith. The Ethnic Origins of Nations. Blackwell, Oxford, 1986. History and Modernity. Reflections on the theory of nationalism from Representing The Nation, A Reader, Ed. David Boswell and Jessica Evans, Routledge 1999.

28/ Benedict Anderson. Imagined Communities P6

29/ Ibid P42

30/ Ibid PP44-46

31/ Ibid P115

32/ Ibid P36: P44. xix

33/ Ibid P7

34/ Maxwell Fraser. England And Why GWR/SR 1932, Pl. A.M. Broadley. Historic Sites and Scenes of England, GWR 1924 P31

35/ Anthony D. Smith. History, Modernity And Nationalism from Representing The Nation, A Reader. Ed. David Boswell and Jessica Evans, Routledge, London, 199. P56.

36/ Anthony Smith. History, Modernity, Nation. P56.

37/ Anthony Smith. Ethnic Origins of Nations, P200.

38/ Ibid P.185.

39/ Ibid P201.

40/ George Revill. English Pastoral, Music, Landscape, History and Politics. Perspectives on Cultural Geography, Prentice Hall. 2000. P5.

41/ Patrick Wright. The Village That Died for England. Vintage, London. 1996 David Matless. Landscape and Englishness. Reaktion Books, London. 1998 Philip Williamson. Stanley Baldwin. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1999.

42/ Martin Weiner. English Culture And The Decline Of The Industrial Spirit, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1981.

43/ Correlli Barnett. The Audit Of War, Macmillan, London. 1987. The Lost Victory, London. 1995.

44/ Bruce Collins and Keith Robbins eds. British Culture And Economic Decline. Debates In Modern History. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London. 1990. Robbins P3.

45/ George Revill. English Pastoral, P5.

46/ Martin Weiner. English Culture. . . Industrial Spirit. P81.

47/ Ibid. P5.

48/ Philip Wilkinson. Stanley Baldwin. See particularly Chapters Five PP 143-166 and Eight PP243-2.

49/ Ibid PP92-99.

50/ W.D. Rubenstein. Capitalism, Culture and Decline in Britain. Routledge, London. 1993. XX

51/ Ibid P78.

52/ Ibid P78.

53/ Anthony Smith. Ethnic Origins of Nationals P196.

54/ W.D. Rubenstein. Capitalism Culture, Decline P73

55/ Harold Perkin. The Rise Of Professional Society. England Since 1880. Routledge, London. 1989.

56/ Ibid P70.

57/ Ibid P70.

58/ Ibid P365 See also Geoffrey Channon. As unpublished paper, (1998) 'Railways And English Landed Society', presented, Institute Of Railway Studies, York, 1998. P3 Channon developed his theme accordingly. The association of the landed class with commercial activities was not of course new in Britain and it was one feature which sharply distinguished it from the aristocracies of much of continental Europe. There was a long tradition of aristocratic involvement in their own estates for purposes other than agriculture in Britain. The extraction of minerals, the building of a local transport infrastructure and urban development, had long claimed the attention and the capital of the landed class and, in particular cases, these sources had made a very significant contribution to estate income. The owners of mineral royalties were the outstanding examples. Whether they engaged directly in these activities, leased their resources to others, or contributed as shareholders, many landowners had played a part. They were necessarily brought into contact with what F.M.L. Thompson has usefully called the "gentrified" middle class. That is with those engaged in closely linked areas - heavy industry and transport and the professions that serviced land and property. These profess- ionals, he argues, worked with rather than against the aristocracy, infect- ing the landed class with market values and methods and the means therefore of their long-term economic survival. What was new in the late nineteenth century was not the commitment to non-agricultural pursuits. Rather it was a receptiveness, as in earlier times, to the opportunities offered at a particular point in capitalist development, in this instance to the proliferation of the public company, onto whose boards patricians were assimilated in large numbers.

59/ Geoffrey Channon. Railways And English Landed Society: The Case Of The Great Western P2.

60/ Ibid P2. xxi

61/ Ibid P2.

62/ Raymond Williams. The Country And The City. Chatto and Windus, London. 1973. Hogarth Press, London. 1993.

63/ Ibid P248.

64/ Philip Williamson. Stanley Baldwin P264.

65/ Bill Schwarz, Ed. The Expansion Of England. Introduction: The Expansion And Contraction Of England, Bill Schwarz, Routledge, London. 1996.

66/ Ibid Pl.

67/ H.V. Morton. In Search Of England, Methuen, London. 1927.

68/ D. Matless. Landscape, Englishness. P64.

69/ Ibid P64.

70/ Ibid P65.

71/ Patrick Wright. Deep England:- The Long Summer BBC.

72/ D. Matless. Landscape, Englishness. P64.

73/ H.V. Morton. In Search, England. Introduction, viii

74/ Paul Fussell. The Great War And Modern Memory, Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1975.

75/ Jay Winter. Sites Of Memory, Sites Of Mourning. The Great War in European Cultural History. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1995.

76/ H.J. Massingham. Cotswold Country, 1937; The English Downlands, 1938. Both Batsford 'Face of Britain' series. London.

77/ Linda Colley. Britons. Forging The Nation 1707-1837. Vintage, London. 1996.

78/ David Matless. Landscape and Englishness pp 17-20.

79/ Edward Thomas. The South Country. Hutchinson, London. 1909. See also, for example, Ernest Rhys, Ed. The Old Country. A Book of Love and Praise of England. J.M. Dent, London. 1917. This was issued during World War One for those fighting "in France and elsewhere". 80/ Simon James. The Atlantic Celts. Ancient People or Modern Invention, British Museum, London. Murray G.H. Pittock. Celtic Identity And The British Image. Manchester University Press, Manchester. 1999. David Brett. The Construction Of Heritage. Cork University Press, Cork. 1996.

81/ Hugh Kearney. The British Isles. A History of Four Nations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1989.

82/ Gwyn A. Williams. When Was Wales? Pelican/Penguin, London. 1985/91. See particularly PP173-219.

83/ Murray G.H. Pittock. Celtic Identity . . . British Image P112.

84/ Gwyneth Tyson Roberts. Under The Hatches. The Expansion Of England. Ed. Bill Schwarz PP171-197.

85/ Malcolm Chapman. The Gaelic Vision in Scottish Culture, Croon Helm, London. 1978 PP81-112.

86/ Ibid PP81-112. Also Murray G.H. Pittock. Celtic Identity, British Image, `Gendering The Celt'. PP61-93.

87/ Matthew Arnold. The Study of Celtic Literature, London. 1867.

88/ New Directions In Celtic Studies. Amy Hale and Philip Payton, University of Exeter Press, 2000.

89/ George Revill. English Pastoral. Music, landscape, history and politics, Perspectives on Cultural Geography, Prentice Hall, 2000. I

CHAPTER ONE Imagery and Enterprise

The Great Western Railway began as a project to link London and Bristol.

Authorised on 31 August 1835 the railway opened in stages to Bristol, where through services operated on the broad gauge, 7'.0 1 /4, began on 30 June 1841. Isambard

Kingdom Brunel was appointed as engineer. Together with his specific duties as railway engineer Brunel also envisaged a related, innovative scheme to link the G.W.R. with wider international perspectives. He suggested that the company could take advantage of the dramatic potential in steamship development, as exemplified in his own vessel, the

Great Western, to promote associated maritime interests. Under Brunel's scheme,

Bristol could become the railhead for Atlantic passenger traffic; in effect, a prestigious

London-New York service. ] On the railway itself the Bristol and Exeter company extended westward, once again, opening in stages to Exeter on 1 May 1844. Thereafter, moving west over much more difficult terrain, the South Devon Railway linked Exeter and Plymouth, opening throughout in April 1849. From Plymouth westward, the

Cornwall Railway ran to Truro, opening in May 1859, where it met the standard gauge

West Cornwall Railway opened between Truro and Penzance in August 1852. This net-

work became the G.W.R. main line from Paddington to Penzance which by 1889 had

been incorporated into the Great Western fold and was thereafter gradually improved

and, in terms of company policy and identity, clearly Great Westernised.

Elsewhere, Birmingham was reached from Paddington, via Oxford and Banbury by

1852; Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury, in 1854. South Wales was linked with London

in 1850 but this entailed a circuitous route via Gloucester and thence to Swindon, mid-

way between Paddington and Bristol. The opening of the Severn Tunnel in January 1886

transformed this situation, offering direct communication between Bristol, Newport and 2

Cardiff. The 1890s saw considerable development in G.W.R. affairs. Identified as 'The

Great Awakening,' 2 these included the removal of the broad gauge in May 1892, the introduction of improved train services and plans for several new routes, identified here in Chapter One. In a further related form, 1904 marked the beginning of the company's distinctive publicity drive with the publication of the 'The Cornish Riviera' 3 and, with the lucrative North American market a priority, 'Historic Sites and Scenes of England.'4

The early years of the twentieth century also saw extensive progress in terms of technical expertise and the creation of a modern, highly efficient railway network. Prior to World War One the management invested heavily in the development of its trunk routes.5 The major initiatives here comprised: the Badminton, South Wales Direct Line, avoiding Bath and Bristol, this being in conjunction with he development of Fishguard

Harbour and then lucrative Trans-Atlantic and Irish traffic, the Badminton line opening in 1903; the new route from Reading to Taunton - the West of England main line - opening in 1906, directly improving access and overall standards of service in tourist traffic to the West of England; the Birmingham-Cheltenham line, opened in 1908 giving direct access from the South Wales ports to the Midlands; and the Great Western/Great Central

Joint Railway (1910) providing a much improved direct link between Paddington and

Birmingham via High Wycombe and Bicester. All such investment contributed directly to the interests of tourism and operational efficiency as in the enlargement and extensive rebuilding of key stations, for example, Westbury, Newbury, Bristol Temple Meads,

Taunton, Newton Abbot, Cardiff, helping consolidate the essential corporate identity and the attendant prestige vital to the G.W.R.'s public image - as a progressive, self-confident organisation. The Great Western's commercial and operational ascendancy in the

West of England had been effectively acknowledged by the rival London and South-

Western Railway in 1909. Minutes of a meeting between the G.W.R. Chairman,

Viscount Churchill, and Sir Charles Scotter, Chairman, L.S.W.R., recorded the latter's considered pursuit of "amalgamation and total absorption" with and by the G.W.R. . . . 3

"that the G.W.R. should in other words, buy them up and manage the whole concern from Paddington."6 Set against the L.S.W.R.'s static commercial returns over the five- year period to 1910, the G.W.R. enjoyed an annual increase of five per-cent at competi- tive points on their respective systems.

There were also major achievements in terms of mechanical engineering. G.J.

Churchward, Chief Mechanical Engineer to the Company, 1902-1922, gave the Great

Western a fleet of modern standardised locomotives, the product of advanced, innovato- ry designs that put the G.W.R. to the forefront of performance. Churchward also gave

Great Western locomotive design an almost instant 'family' identity that the layman could easily recognise thus underlining the crucial concept of corporate identity.

Combining efficiency with elegance, the Swindon tapered boiler, copper-tapped chim- ney, gleaming, polished brasswork and brunswick green livery was calculated to give

G.W.R. locomotives a dignity and overall sense of distinction that was vital to the promotion of public image.

Churchward set the pattern for future development. His successors, C.B. Collett in

1922, and F.W. Hawksworth in 1944, followed his example, producing modified designs based on trusted Churchward principles. The best known locomotives of the G.W.R. between the World Wars - the 'Castles', 'Kings', 'Halls', 'Granges', 'Manors' and, post- war, the 'Counties' - exemplified the essential Churchward design, with their unmistakable Swindon parentage, much enhanced by means of a carefully considered naming pol-

icy. Resonant of order, authority and prestige, the class names were intended to reflect

a hierarchically-inspired celebration of Englishness, a perspective exploited in the com-

pany's sale publications, as in `G.W.R. Engines, Names, Numbers, Types and Classes'

1938. 'The "King" of Railway Locomotives', 1928, 'Caerphilly Castle', 1924 or

'Locomotives of the Great Western Railway', 1929. 7 A range of jigsaw puzzles rein-

forced the thematic focus. But in as far as the G.W.R. relied on its essentially tried and

trusted Churchward principles into the 1940's, locomotive design and development 4 clearly reflected the company's essentially conservative nature, very different from that of the L.M.S., L.N.E.R. and the S.R., who were much more innovative in this specific area. Collett's rolling stock, however, gave the G.W.R. such definitive designs as the

Ocean Liner saloons of 1931, named after members of the Royal Family, and the famous

Centenary Stock of 1935. Both were redolent of confidence, authority and prestige in their dimension and luxurious interiors. There was also the considerable technological achievement, together with the attendant publicity, of the famous 'Cheltenham Flyer' of

1932. Culturally, this train was important, conferring substantial international acclaim upon the G.W.R., as W.G. Chapman recorded in the company's publication 'The

Cheltenham Flyer', 1934:

I need not tell you that 'Cheltenham Flyer' has made a name for

herself all over the world. Americans, Chinese, Frenchmen,

Germans, Indians and visitors from other countries have made

a great point of including a trip on the world's fastest train in

their itineraries.8

The details here of Great Western enterprise in engineering achievement and standards of service indicate the extent to which the company was aware of the need to consistently integrate technology and public image. It was this recognition and achievement, when allied to a received rural, historical imagery, the effective marriage of technology and historic cultural identity, that gave the G.W.R. its most powerful and enduring appeal in terms of its public perception. This conflation of technology and the literary, historical and aesthetic qualities of Great Western experience was implicit and, often, conspicuously explicit, as in the literary perspective of the 'Through the Window' trilogy of 1924-1926. 9 These books offered a unique experience of landscape, tradition, aesthetic perception and G.W.R. enterprise, in the collective concept of 'The Journey.'10

'Through the Window' focused on the spectacular attraction of the landscape, the history and cultural heritage that could be enjoyed from the passing train, as in the 5

Paddington-Penzance journey. The journey westward was described as "an adventure and experience . . . having something of the fascination of foreign travel." 11 The content and style of the 'Through the Window' trilogy represented a real attempt to link different locations and larger regions, South-West with North-West and Wales and Southern

Ireland with London. Overall, a metropolitan-provincial-rural configuration. 'Through the Window' served to identify the specific character of a given region/county whilst relating it structurally to the many other, similar or contrasting, locations across the

G.W.R. system. The constituent parts of the network were, thereby, presented in terms indicative of an organic relationship with Paddington, as Head Office and the company's commercial, organisational hub.

The Literary Record

Of the four railway companies in the inter-war era - the Great Western Railway, the

Southern Railway, the London and North Eastern Railway and the London Midland

Scottish Railway - and amongst the numerous pre-grouped companies in the first two decades of the twentieth century, the Great Western was the most prolific and the most innovative in terms of the literary record. It was also a prime mover in the development of joint publicity schemes between railway and resort, and between companies for national and, particularly, international trade. At this point, however, it is necessary to stress that the literary work formed part of the G.W.R's much larger, comprehensive publicity initiative wherein all means at its disposal were employed to enhance its public image. As will be examined, below, the guiding principle was, as one senior official remarked in 1929, "to create in the minds of the public a desire to visit the places situated on our system." 12 Press reports, posters and works of literature were devoted to that end but, whilst the literature, in particular, suggested an identifiable thematic focus and imagery, no formal statement identifying a systematic company policy on content and style is evident.

The literary record began, effectively, in 1904 with the publication of three books: 6

'The Cornish Riviera', the company's first major work, 'Historic Sites and Scenes of

England' directed expressly at the American market and 'Southern Ireland, Its Lakes and

Landscapes' directed at an Anglo-American audience. Many more regional and county- based works followed: 'South Wales, The Country of Castles', 1905; 'North Wales, The

British Tyrol', 1906; 'Devon, The Shore of the Sea Kings', 1906; 'Wilts, Somerset and

Dorset, Wonderful Wessex', 1908; 'Rural London, The Chalfont Country and the

Thames Valley', 1909; and 'Beautiful Brittany', also 1909. These works went into many editions and remained largely unaltered until the late twenties when they were replaced by new titles with evidently up-dated perspectives, written by popular, modern authors of the day.

All these early publications were written by A.M. Broadley, whose work was informed by an extremely detailed and informed literary reference. Broadley related landscape to the Classical And English literary tradition evoking the perspectives of

Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, for example in a construction of received 'High Culture', a projection aimed at confirming the exclusive nature of its educated, informed audience. The perspective was, accordingly, that of a prevailing metropolitan-urban provenance, as in the company's clear identification with the prestigious ambience and protocol of the winter health resort: the English and, particularly, the Cornish Riviera. The initial representation of Cornwall was primarily that of the National Winter Health and

Pleasure Resort. 13 Its principal focus was with its equable climate and restorative properties. Numerous references to climate and to comparative statistics with Mediterranean locations, including a complete chapter on meteorological data and medical endorse- ments from reputable doctors set the agenda and focus, underlining Cornwall's detailed and practical advantages as a winter resort over foreign locations. Similarly, Broadley's

'Devon. The Shire Of The Sea Kings' identified that county as "one of the great holiday haunts of the Empire."14

Broadley's works from the pre-World War One era, were the basis, indeed, the texts, 7 for a series of 'Handy Aid' booklets covering all regional locations and perspectives across the G.W.R. system. Looking to celebrate outstanding literary, historical or aesthetic attractions, these publications were pocket-editions to inform the visitor en-route or on location and included such titles as: 'Sunny Cornwall, England's Mediterranean

Region; Devon, The Lovely Land of the Mayflower; The Wye Valley (two volumes),

Shakespeare-Land' and 'Places of Pilgrimage for American Travellers'. The 'Handy

Aids' series, although an adaptation of Broadley's early works, was essentially an initiative of the inter-war era. Selected titles did appear as early as 1913 but the full range was closely identified with the managerial initiatives of the Great Western's Managing

Director, Felix Pole, who headed the company from 1921 to 1929.

Formerly the editor of the G.W.R. Magazine for ten years up to 1919, Pole, as

General Manager, identified publicity as fundamental to the G.W.R.'s interests. It was during his term of management that the company made its most significant progress in relation to content, style and focus within the literary work and achieved its greatest output and sales. Literary works, however, were by no means the only vehicle of publicity.

Poster production, in particular, was prolific, if essentially conservative in its style and thematic range. I5 There were also official photographs celebrating the company's identification with historic sites, the landscape of rural-traditional England and the romantic, sublime perspectives of Cornwall, Wales and Southern Ireland. Lantern-slides and film- strips were also available for hire, often carrying the familiar titles marking the best known literary works, listed above. The lantern slides were estimated to comprise more than one hundred sets and were accompanied by printed lecture notes. Given the estimated 1200 to 1500 applications from libraries, clubs and educational interests generally, the G.W.R. observed, "as every class of person is a potential traveller, we have taken full advantage of this form of publicity. ”16

This was said as part of an authoritative statement on the work and the role of the

Publicity Department was delivered in October 1934. Under the Proceedings of the 8

Great Western Railway (London) Lecture and Debating Society, Mr. G.E. Orton,

Commercial Assistant To The Superintendent Of The Line, gave a lecture entitled:

"Railway Publicity." 17 This was one of several papers on publicity presented to the

Debating Society during the inter-war period and, as in Orton's case, the papers were the work of well-regarded authorities. Orton had been with the G.W.R. for some thirty years. His responsibilities included those of Assistant Publicity Agent and, in 1929,

General Agent in the U.S.A. and Canada; in 1932, Assistant Commercial Advertising and Publicity Agent; in 1933, G.W.R. Publicity Agent and, in 1934, Commercial

Assistant to the Superintendent of the Line.18

Orton began by stressing the differences between railway publicity and that of any other business, large or small. His was not the position "of the publicity manager of a commodity who has but a single and well-defined product to advertise." 19 He therefore emphasised that it was the duty of the publicity officer to prioritise and that, given the

G.W.R.'s focus on press advertisements, almost 50 per cent of the expenditure in the

Press went to advertising excursion arrangements. Newspaper advertisements were always central to the company's policy and practice, a factor underlined by Felix Pole, who, as General Manager, identified press coverage as one source of invaluable 'propaganda'. Orton revealed that the G.W.R. ran some "25,000 [excursions] per annum, necessitating the regular weekly use of about 250 newspapers." 21 This "essential excursion advertising" was distinguished from what was termed "general advertising. "20 The latter comprised: "Train Service, Territory" - the popular holiday locations - "Travel

Literature, Special Services" - season-holiday tickets, parcels, freight, docks interests - and "Prestige Advertising", as in high standards of infrastructure, rolling stock, signalling and safety measures "giving us an undertaking second to none in efficiency. "22

Moreover "no fewer than 41 varieties of illustrated folders, totalling in numbers printed,

1,142,000, which are in addition to 38 varieties of menus, totalling 440,000, advertising our holiday season tickets, are distributed to hotels in the districts where the 9 tickets applied."23 Distribution and general dissemination of information covered hotels, libraries, railway agents, local/regional authorities and, indeed, all incoming liners (see

Chapter Five).

A significant organisational feature, distinct to the G.W.R., was also underlined.

Passenger enquiries were handled by the public information bureau which was attached to the publicity department. Orton considered this arrangement to offer the best possible service and, therefore, publicity. Detailed replies to enquiries, supplemented by information on wider-related publicity initiatives, represented advantages for all concerned which, in Orton's opinion, could not be over-estimated. He also drew attention to the work of the Press Bureau. The latter, operating within the Publicity Department, gathered newsworthy items from across the company for effective free publication in the national or regional press. There were also arrangements within the divisions whereby the divisional officers supplied their local papers with useful news items and engaged with correspondence columns on the company's behalf. This was intended to underline the presence and active role of the railway within the community.

In its range of marketing initiatives the G.W.R. reflects parallels with the Empire

Marketing Board, to which it gave considerable support. Indeed, Major M.J.M. Dewar, appointed as G.W.R. Publicity Officer in 1934, had been head of outdoor publicity for the E.M.B. and, previously, on the headquarters staff of the British Empire Exhibition at

Wembley, 1924-25. 24 The broadly educational agenda revealed by both parties in the provision of jigsaws and games, puzzles, competitions, visits, films and exhibitions, had considerable commercial-cultural resonance which was intended to encourage an active sense of participation in, and identification with, their respective interests. Both were well aware of the potential in fostering a sense of citizenship amongst children. The

G.W.R. utilised its extensive supply of network and regional maps which, correlated with the commercial and topographical detail - ports, industries, histories and topography - in the unifying factor of transport, were recommended to schools. Such amenities 10 were also available to community outlets, as in the broad educational context of newspapers, illustrated talks and the popularist company handbooks and brochures which were distributed free of charge. Orton's identification of the central role of the national and regional-local press in reaching a mass-market readership and his recognition of the immediate and dramatic properties of the poster, suggests that the overall impact of these dimensions of marketing was always likely to be greater than that of the formal literary works. Reference to the twenties and to the later thirties confirms this perspective.

Details from lecture papers for 1925 and 1929 are considered below, whilst for the latter half of the 1930s, the G.W.R. produced no substantial literary works. Focussing instead upon booklets, standardised brochures and press announcements, the Coronation

Year, 1937, occasioned an intense distribution of these various forms of advertising.

Publicity had been a prominent issue for the G.W.R. Lecture and Debating Society during the twenties. At the meeting of 5th February 1925, Mr. D. Richards presented a paper: "Advertising - with Special Reference to Railway Publicity" 25 As a former employee of the G.W.R., Richards went on to become Assistant to the General Manager of the Isle of Wight Central Railway. Thereafter, he pursued a career in commercial advertising and, as an advertising consultant with a railway background, Richards was recognised as an authoritative contributor to the G.W.R. Society. He identified the national and regional/local press as the central vehicle for publicity, stressing this in relation to the poster, as a matter of record. "The poster in any field of advertising must always be complementary to the press", as the latter was considered to deliver a much larger measure of real and useful publicity. " 26 Orton, however, (in 1925) whilst endors- ing the Press as "first in importance every time," 27 and conceding that the G.W.R.'s poster work in some cases was "not of much advertising value", did consider that the poster was improving considerably. He also pointed out that poster campaigns were invariably accompanied by Press announcements 28 but also observed that the G.W.R. could and should do more to advertise freight services, to bring them more in line with 11 passenger promotions. (This latter dimension was addressed in the creation of the

Commercial Advertising Department, in January 1931, 29 leading to the publication of

'The Best Location', in 1932. See Chapter Two).

Mr. Goodricke of the L.N.E.R. publicity department, likewise, endorsed the pre- eminent role of the Press but also identified literary works and, specifically, those of the

G.W.R., as "one of three fundamental items in any scheme."30

With regard to literature, an extensive series of books is issued by

every railway company; the Great Western excel themselves in that

respect and I am sure that it has proved a most profitable investment

from the railway standpoint. The books do good in clubs and enquiry

offices and those highly-rented establishments we have in large cities

like London. Literature is the backbone of our efforts.31

The 1929 document: "Railway Advertising. Is it on the right lines?" - G.W.R.

(London) Lecture and Debating Society, January 1929 - took the form of a debate between C.S. Lock, Press Officer in the Publicity Department (Affirmative) and A.C.

Pickford of the Goods Department, Pontypridd (Negative). 32 Lock offered useful statements of policy, beginning here with the emphasis upon literature and its context as developed from the 1925 paper. Under the heading; 'Development Of Territory

Served By The Company,' he emphasised the press/poster campaign and, subsequently, the literary initiatives.

... in order to stimulate travel it has been the policy of the Company

for a quarter of a century to endeavour to create in the minds of the

public a desire to visit the places situated upon our system.... It was

obviously to the Company's advantage to encourage this desire, espec-

ially in relation to the holiday habit and, in doing so, to encourage as

great a part of this new traffic as possible to its system ...

Consequently, Press announcements backed up by poster displays 12

were undertaken, calling attention to the advantages of Cornwall,

for example, as a holiday resort, and so successful was this effort

that later Devon, Somerset, North and South Wales and other dis-

tricts were given representation and a stimulus given to holiday

traffic in general. This advertising created a big demand for liter-

ature and consequently a number of publications dealing with the

various districts were issued.33

Lock identified excursion traffic as advertised in the Press as a source of much enhanced revenue: He also emphasised 'Overseas Advertising' principally the U.S.A.

and the representation of the Summer and Winter Resorts in England as valuable revenue earners, the latter countering the strenuous efforts on the part of Continental resorts. Of the excursion traffic, figures were given from 1923 to 1927, inclusive: "1923, total figure, 26 million; 1924, total figure 30 million; 1924, total figure, 39

million; 1926, total figure, 38 million; 1927, total figure, 49 million. Comparative figures for the thirties reflect 'peaks', in 1936 and 1937, of 48 and 49 million respective-

ly.34

The American market (See Chapter Five) was considered essential as this statement

of development in the twenties reveals.

It is computed that half a million Americans visited England last year,

an increase of 25 per cent on the 1927 figure. Their interests are, of

course, centred in the historic and beauty spots of this country and

the Company is indeed fortunate in having a number of the most imp-

ortant of these on its system. We have thus a very direct interest in

going "all out" for this traffic. We expend considerable sums on

Press advertising and literature distributed in America and we have

good reason to say that the results are on the upgrade. An index of

some value is given by passengers landing at Plymouth. 13

In 1913, the great boom year before the war, the total number of

passengers disembarking at Plymouth was 27,000; in 1925 the

number was 27,000; in 1927, 34,000; in 1928, over 36,000. This

shows an increase of 2,000 in 1928 over 1927 - and 9,000 over both

1925 and 1913.35

Felix Pole put great emphasis upon the American market and duly despatched company representatives to the U.S.A. in 1925 to promote 'The Historic and Scenic Line of

England.' 'The Handbook for Travellers from Overseas', 1926 36 effectively, the U.S.A. and Canada, advertised its General Agent at 315 Fifth Avenue, New York, highlighting

"particulars of the railway arrangements for the convenience of overseas travellers arriving and departing from the Ports of Plymouth, Bristol, Liverpool and Cobh

(Queenstown)"37. The handbook also included details of G.W.R. literary works - both the free guidebooks and the larger retail selection, these, of course, being available aboard ship, en-route to England.

Pickford, however, whilst acknowledging these developments, identified various shortcomings. He called for more detailed and dynamic presentation in the Press, stressing the need to "attract attention, arouse interest and compel action." 38 His verdict on the current practice was that it "lacks appeal and directness; and neglects opportunities."39 On passenger services he concluded: "The people we must influence are those who seldom, if ever, travel."40 Pickford called for an extension of excursion fares "and other privileges"41 , that is the identification of particular types of passenger service - business, personal or pleasure - and of the real need to publicise them more effectively.

Railway posters he considered to be "either too scenic or overloaded with detail," 42 but

Holiday Haunts was singled out for praise, not least, for the fact, as he saw it, of comparative performance - "Its excellence serves but to exemplify the weakness of other phases, for it must not be forgotten that no part of advertising is complete in itself. Each is dependent upon, and complementary to, the other." 43 The G.W.R. Magazine, by 14 comparison, whilst having "a very appreciable public demand apart from the circulation amongst employees"44 was subject to a severe handicap. Pickford posed the question:

"Could one conceive of a more dull, lifeless-looking cover for such an interesting book?"45 His question serves to bring us back to the company's concern to up-date and generally overhaul the presentation, style and format of its literature during the early post-Grouping period.

During the twenties, under the direction of Felix Pole, the company had begun to revise its literary work, particularly the early material by A.M. Broadley, with its exclusive, literary agenda, and to introduce new publications reflecting shifting perspectives in matters of recreation and leisure - the expectations and protocol of the holiday. This was reflected in the G.W.R.'s literary style, its content and presentation. 'Sunny

Cornwall, England's Mediterranean Region; 46 provides an example. "A Wonderful

Summerland: England's Atlantic Seaboard", a section within this book, emphasised the theme of choice and, therein, the distinctive variety of experience. It expressed the infini- tive: to go, to see, to feel, to smell, etc., highlighting the role of the senses and of active participation - a characteristically Great Western approach of the inter-war years, and the conflation of cultural-commercial interests. The content represented something of a bridge between the older concept of the holiday as a structured, formalised educational experience and the later, more relaxed, recreational emphasis, based around more varied, active pursuits. The inter-war years saw considerable evidence of the shifting perspective towards the more democratic and much less formal style of tourism to meet all requirements, consistent with the progressive context of 'citizenship' and reflected in the increasing range of participatory activities available.47

'The Cornish Riviera' and 'Glorious Devon', totally new publications in an equally new format, appeared in 1928. They comprised 167 pages and 151 pages respectively: 'Somerset' comprised 186 pages, with all three publications celebrating the rural-historical, aesthetic and seaside perspectives. They were also lavishly illustrated and, like 15 the photographic plates in the company's 'Holiday Haunts' annual handbook, were the work of the Engineering Department. These new books were the work of S.P.B. Mais, an extremely popular travel-writer of the period, who also wrote for the Southern

Railway." These two volumes, together with Maxwell Fraser's 'Somerset', 1934, became major literary works of G.W.R. literature and definitive reference books for the

West of England. 49 All three were published in hardback format initially and in paper- back by the mid-thirties. Mais, with his experience as leader-writer to the Daily

Telegraph, was considered a good choice for these books. As a free-lance writer he had many books to his credit with various publishing houses on historical-topographical studies relating to British, European and overseas locations. His popular and partisanly narrative style, deeply descriptive and historically inclined, was totally removed from what by that time was Broadley's ponderous, remote terms of reference. The G.W.R. also benefitted in its association with Mais, given his work with the BBC as a broad- caster. Mais' evening presentations of an historical-topographical character enhanced his reputation, nationally and, as indeed Stanley Baldwin had found, the apparently direct, seemingly personal contact with the listener paid dividends in terms of communication and 'message'.

Maxwell Fraser was the G.W.R.'s most accomplished and prolific author.

Appointed to the G.W.R. by Felix Pole, she was the daughter of W.H. Fraser, who had been the company's publicity agent from 1924 to 1931 and, previously, a long-term member of staff. Maxwell Fraser was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and, from 1930, was the editor of the company handbook, 'Holiday Haunts'. She undertook the task of extensively rewriting it to reflect changing styles and interests and, significantly, reorganised its format. 'Holiday Haunts' had previously listed each county with-

in the company's system in alphabetical order. Fraser introduced a regional format com-

prising seven sections: 'London and the Southern Counties; The Cornish Riviera;

Glorious Devon; Somerset, Dorset and the Channel Islands; North Wales; South Wales 1 6 and Monmouthshire; the Midland Counties and the Isle of Man.' This had the effect of enhancing the regional identities whilst clearly contextualising them within the overall

Great Western system, making the handbook much easier to consult. Within the individual county-based entries there was also an extensive register of accommodation, covering the full range of hotels and boarding houses, together with details on amenities,

'remarks' as to disposition and service and the distance from the nearest station.

Advertisements for specific towns, generally, full-page format, were incorporated with the participation of the resorts - Town Clerk, Information Bureau or the G.W.R.'s own contact point, as at Teignmouth, for example.

In its comprehensive character the company handbook represented a commercial- cultural document, the latter being established in terms of Maxwell Fraser's literary style and historical-aesthetic perspectives. Tenby, in Pembrokeshire offers a fitting illustra- tion.

Few seaside towns so large and popular as Tenby have such

charm and individuality. Great cliffs stretch out on either hand,

their recesses stained with deep purple shadows and their butt-

resses picked out by golden sunlight. Beyond the Northern

cliff a great headland, nebulous in the distance, colours the

horizon with a darker shade of blue and defines the meeting

of azure sky with sapphire sea. Tenby stands on a headland

above two great bays. The vast sweep of the tawny gold North

Sands, cradled in the encircling cliffs, stretches with a sating

smoothness only broken by a fantastically shaped rock, which

becomes an island at high tide. The South Sands stretch for

miles along the coast, which is indented with countless caves

and bathing coves.56

This extract is interesting in that it functioned on various levels. It was, simultane- 17 ously, a commercial, cultural, aesthetic and political statement. Tenby is recognised as a

'large and popular' resort, thus fulfilling its commercial role within the G.W.R.'s context of 'care-free democracies', but the aesthetic structuring of landscape incorporates a more complex and, within the inclusive agenda of 'Holiday Haunts', a paradoxically differentiated yet graduated cultural representation. The various 'levels' in appreciation are apparent in the structure and imagery of the passage and, as such, represent the concept of progressive revelation as understood in citizenship and identification of landscape in relation to personal and national-cultural identity. Conceived in broad terms as an educative context, as discussed, above, the political dimension is apparent. As an aesthetic statement, the passage reflects the company's concern for literary credentials.

Fraser offered the experience of colour and the perspectives of proximity, distance and of lateral and vertical perceptions. Shapes, structure and forms, textures and tones convey shifting definitions within the range of light and shadow which, collectively, present the scene as one of studied, structured, landscape of harmony and order. In the conventions of the picturesque, Fraser, here, guides the observer in constructing and appreciat- ing the experience.

Maxwell Fraser gave insight into G.W.R. practice by way of an article published in the company magazine in March 1930 entitled, 'The Production of Holiday Haunts'.50

It included the following statement concerning the company's policy on the composition and style of photographic material and emphasises that, within the overall context of increasing modernity and challenging perspectives, which also included the literature, the G.W.R. was by no means as progressive or experimental as the Southern Railway, or the London and North Eastern company in their openly democratic perspectives. (See

Chapter Seven).

The chief view observed in obtaining new photographs is that each

view must indicate the character of the scenery of the individual

'Holiday Haunt', and be free from the allurement of holiday sea- 1 8

sons. If some resorts are peopled with gay bathing parties in the

height of summer the picture leaves this to the imagination, or to

a mention in the text - a wise rule when many of the glorious

summer holiday haunts served by the G.W.R. are scarcely less

famous as winter resorts.51

This distinction between the Winter and Summer seasons was an important marketing feature in both the G.W.R. literature and that of the Southern Railway. The

G.W.R. slogan, 'Winter in the West' from Maxwell Fraser's 'Winter Resorts', 1935,52 was a marketing strategy formulated around the ideas of exclusive location, health-giving, restorative climate and the sensation of difference, as indicated earlier in the concept of 'departure', whilst, in respect of service and amenities, there was the reassurance of familiarity. 'Winter Resorts' stressed that passports and customs inconveniences were removed; that there were no barriers to understanding and communication from foreign

languages; that English meals were readily available - "It is notorious that English peo-

ple are so set in their "mad" ways that, instead of adapting themselves to foreign ideas,

they frequently demand all the amenities of home life wherever they happen to be" ...

[and that] "with the supreme attraction of equability of climate ... English resorts can

anticipate the needs of English people far more readily and successfully than any

Continental resort can do."53 The 'Winter' representation was clearly intended to

underline the G.W.R.'s exclusive, hierarchical credentials in terms of protocol and

expectation, as Fraser's reference to Winter and Summer protocols and imagery reflects.

Looking further to comparisons in stylistic, thematic focus between the company's

photographic policy and its literary work, the latter can be seen to be largely consistent

with that of the studied landscape photography; of the distanced spectator relating to an

historical or aesthetic spectacle or encounter wherein the only figures to be seen are usu-

ally thematic stereotypes, as in much of the poster work - fishermen, farmworkers, boat-

men - defined by their work and, therefore, differentiated culturally. Maxwell Fraser's 19 depiction of Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo, in South Devon 54 provides a good example of this, as comparable thematically with the company's photograph of the same location in 'Glorious Devon'55

Maxwell Fraser also wrote 'Southern Ireland', 1932, which was a replacement for

A.M. Broadley's earlier work, 'Southern Ireland, Its Lakes and Landscapes', 1904. In its style and thematic focus Fraser's book was much more accessible generally than that from Broadley. Contemporaneous and closely comparable with H.V. Morton's, 'In

Search Of Ireland', 1930, 57 Fraser's work acknowledged the changed political and cultural circumstances in Anglo-Irish relations through explicit statement and the nuances of theme and style. "Since the creation of the Irish Free State, Southern Ireland has been invested with the irresistible charm of a foreign country". 58 Morton also emphasised that visitors should experience Ireland as a foreign country. Co-operation between

Ireland's and Britain's railways, in the formation of the 'Travel Association of the

Railways of Great Britain and Ireland', 1929, 59 encouraged working links between the two states, a practice which the G.W.R. had developed with the Great Southern and

Western of Ireland Railway three decades earlier.

Fraser also prepared the joint Great Western Railway and Southern Railway publication, 'England And Why' 60 for the Travel Association. Dating from the 1930 season onward it was directed at the North American tourist market, at a time when Britain, in common with the United States, was undergoing extreme economic hardship. A 'Come

To Britain' promotion had been launched in 1927 and, perhaps identifying a patriotic duty, in the early thirties, the G.W.R. promoted 'Holidays at Home' and the 'Buy British

Holidays', 1931 61 for example. In an expression of active citizenship it was asserted:

It is a reproach that so many English people travel abroad without

having first visited any of the English beauty spots . . . every

English man and woman should realise the glory of our land.62

The focus of 'England And Why', indeed, all the North-American orientated liter- 20 ature, was that of England and Wales as a treasure-house of historical, cultural and aesthetic experience. Visitors' interest was directed to representations of historic development, of authority, continuity and architectural and aesthetic excellence. These were combined thematically and in literary terms in three prestige commissions from the mid- twenties: the trilogy, 'Cathedrals', 'Abbeys' and 'Castles'.63 These books exemplified the company's historical, political and cultural affiliations, whilst also proving extremely successful commercially. 'Cathedrals', published in 1924, in hardback and soft cover editions was written by G.E. Beer, in close consultation with the individual Sees themselves and carried a letter, by way of a Foreword, from the Archbishop of Canterbury at

Lambeth Palace to Viscount Churchill, Chairman of the G.W.R. 'Abbeys', published in

1925, was written by Dr. M.R. James, Provost of Eton College, whilst 'Castles', dating from 1926, was the work of Sir Charles Oman Chichele, Professor of Modern History and M.P. for Oxford University.

Another dimension of the G.W.R.'s participation in, and appreciation of, landscape and tradition came in the form of the 'Rambles' 64 series written by Hugh E. Page. As

Secretary of the North Finchley Rambling Club, Page undertook all the routes covered in his series and, within this genre, did for the G.W.R. what S.P.B. Mais offered for the

Southern Railway's hikers. All four railway companies produced this literature, including London Transport, Underground and Omnibus services. The G.W.R. titles comprised: 'Rambles in the Chiltern Country, 1931, . . . in Shakespeare Land and the

Cotswolds, 1933, . . . in South Devon, 1933, Rambles and Walking Tours in Somerset,

1935, Rambles Around the Cambrian Coast, 1936, Rambles in the Wye Valley', 1938 and 'Walks around St. Ives, Cornwall', 1946. A re-worked version for South Devon also appeared in 1938. Contemporaneous with the Youth Hostels Association 1930 and the

Ramblers Association of 1935, the G.W.R. (see also Chapter Eight for the Southern

Railway's contribution) was well in line with contemporary perspectives on the value of outdoor pursuits. The 'Rambles' series reflected the pronounced character of citizenship 21 and community by specific and detailed directions as to protocol, both practical and aesthetic.65

The G.W.R. Magazine, initiated in 1888 and running through to nationalisation in

1948, expressed the comprehensive, collective imagery of the company in a family-orientated focus and format. All dimensions of company business were included. -

Commercial, industrial, social, historical and recreational interests were reported together with issues ranging from administrative items to developments in individual or group welfare projects. In the 1934 edition, for example, the October entries 66 included a detailed essay on archaeological excavations at Maiden Castle, Dorchester, followed by an article on welding technology and the maintenance of the permanent way which, in turn, preceded a survey on the Henrican castles of Pendennis and St. Mawes on

Cornwall's south coast. Likewise, the 1938 editions67 included essays on the origins of historic place-names, details of new ventilated freight wagons for the transit of fruit and vegetables, a report on new industries in South Wales, notes on the hotel gardens at the company's hotels and correspondence on its convalescent homes.

As part of the standardised format - official statements of revenue and train-work-

ing and reports from each department (annually), the 'interest' articles, the careers struc-

ture and staff changes and the broader category of staff welfare and enterprise - the mag-

azine also incorporated full-plate photographs of company projects, of staff-orientated

interests and, significantly, large plates of rural landscapes entitled 'Through Great

Western Countryside', one for each monthly edition. Within this collective format the

rural theme was thus emphasised. Structurally, and thematically, the G.W.R. Magazine

exemplified the company's rural-urban, past-present representation, reconciling continu-

ity with progress.

The impact of the G.W.R. literature might well be seen in terms of the popularity of

the work, as reflected in sales returns and public reception generally. Broadley's early

works, pre-World War One, were exceptionally popular and were the best selling 22

editions of the company's overall list. 'The Cornish Riviera', and 'Devon. The Shire of

the Sea Kings', each completed six editions between 1904 and 1926. The 1904 editions

of 'The Cornish Riviera' exhausted its print run of 250,000 within the year. By June

1914 the book had run to four editions - 1904, 1905, 1908, 1914. Recording this suc-

cess, the Preface to the 1914 editions observed:

Nearly ten years have passed away since the publication of 'The

Cornish Riviera Express.' . . . The second and third editions

enjoyed the same popularity and are now entirely exhausted.68

Totally new editions of 'The Cornish Riviera' and 'Glorious Devon' both by S.P.B.

Mais sold their complete print run of 20,000 editions each, from publication in August

1928 to January 1929. With regard to 'Holiday Haunts', 1927 was the first year that the book exceeded 1000 pages when the G.W.R. offered 1018 pages. The following year,

1928, saw the first edition of 200,000 copies, a significant increase on the first post-war edition in 1921, numbering 40,000 copies. This 1921 edition, however, was extremely popular with the initial 20,000 copies being sold in one month, thus requiring a repeated print run of a further 20,000. From 1928 to 1931 production was maintained at approximately the 200,000 figure but fell thereafter as victim to the Depression and to outside competition, 1938 marking the best performance, latterly, with 172,000 copies at

976 pages. The 1934 edition was the largest, at 1054 pages.69

As indicated, sales returns over the range of publications indicate the commercial success of the literature, but it is much more difficult to say how this translated into effective communicating. The G.W.R. literature engaged various commercial and cultural perspectives that are difficult to isolate and convert into detailed quantifiable impact. Commercially, tourism and particular kinds of freight traffic were profitable as returns (see Chapter Two) indicate. But it is not possible to gauge, accurately, how much impact the company's projection of particular imagery of rural-historical England or that of the Celtic Sublime had on readers. 23

The G.W.R. certainly acted as though all dimensions of publicity mattered a great deal, particularly during the inter-war period, with the enhanced level of competition from road traffic being apparent. Wherever possible, it co-operated with individual resorts, local authorities and district and county representations, as in the 'Come To

Cornwall' initiative. Felix Pole personally visited local chambers of commerce with both warm words and bad tidings as the company saw fit. Newquay, for example, declared that the G.W.R. has "taught them the meaning of advertising." 70 Substantial

investment in the various resorts was acknowledged by all concerned and, in terms of

marketing initiatives, the company involved itself directly in issues of public health -

water supply, drainage, sewerage projects - town and street planning, hotel and boarding

house amenities. Detailed accounts of such work were presented in the local newspa-

pers, to the satisfaction of both railway and resort. Richards was unequivocal on the par-

ticular contribution of the railway companies in this process:

I believe the railways of this country have, generally speaking, done

more for many resorts than those resorts have done for themselves

and undoubtedly from a railway point of view it is a very difficult

subject. [See Chapter Six]71

Presentations of increasing tourist traffic during the mid-thirties, reflected in the cam-

paigns for earlier and later, off-season holidays, indicated the need for closely structured

holiday planning. 'Holiday Haunts' in 1939 carried the article: 'Popularising Earlier

Holidays'. Considering the context and impact of the legislation and quoting Ministry

of Labour figures on holidays with pay, it observed:

... that of the 18,500,000 people employed in Great Britain, 7,750,000

will this year get paid holidays - an increase of a million over 1938,

and of more than two-and-a-half millions over 1937 ...

The question is not one that concerns the railway companies alone.

It affects all forms of transport holiday resorts, the hotel and catering 24

industry, the entertainment profession, and, in fact every industry

or person providing for the requirements of holiday makers, right

down to the beach-chair attendant and the donkey man.72

This was a significant statement on the structural role, impact and scope of organisation and marketing in tourism, indicating the detailed development in terms of its scale and diversity from the early, pre-1914 era and thereafter in the achievements of the inter- war period generally. G.W.R. identification with the West of England, for example, reached back well into the nineteenth century. Its presence effectively bridged the 'great divide' of 1914 and World War One, whilst the railway grouping in 1923 had minimal

disruptive impact on the G.W.R. generally. This endowed it with a considerable sense

of historic continuity and identification with its communities that was not so apparent

with the other companies, who lacked such an established, coherent identity. This was

evident in the structure, style and focus of the company's commissioned history: 'The

History of the Great Western Railway.' Vol I 1927; Vol II, 1931, by E.T.

MacDermot.73 Inspired by Felix Pole to emphasise the G.W.R.'s historical credentials

and its progressive development since 1935, MacDermot's work clearly celebrated the

company's special distinction of retaining its historic structure and identity and, indeed,

enhancing it by the Railways Act of 1921. This gave the G.W.R.'s commissioned histo-

ry an added resonance in terms of this genre, the obligatory company history being an

essential element in the overall representation of railway companies, large and sma11.74 25

References

Chapter One

1/ L.T.C. Rolt. Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Longmans Green, London 1957. Pelican Books London. 1970 P249.

2/ E.T. MacDermot. Revised C.R. Clinker. History of the Great Western Railway Vol. 2 G.W.R. 1927. (3 Volumes Ian Allan London 1964) P208. See also John Norris, Gerry Beale, John Lewis. Edwardian Enterprise G.W.R. Wild Swan Publications Didcot, 1987.

3/ A.M. Broadley. The Cornish Riviera G.W.R. 1904.

4/ R.M. Broadley Historic Sites and Scenes of England. G.W.R. 1904

5/ John Norris. Gerry Beale. John Lewis. Edwardian Enterprise G.W.R. Wild Swan Publications Ltd. 1987.

6/ Public Record Office Rail. 267:370 Minutes of Meeting. Lord Churchill G.W.R. and Sir Charles Scotter L.S.W.R. 21 Oct. 1909.

7/ Roger Burdett-Wilson. Go Great Western. A History of G.W.R. Publicity. David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1970. See particularly Chapters Four and Six. Also Stephen Constantine. Bringing the Empire Alive, in Imperialism And Popular Culture, ed. John M. Mackenzie. Manchester University Press. Manchester. 1986. Constantine's work on the promotory strategies of the Empire Marketing Board correlates with G.W.R. experience and practice.

8/ W.G. Chapman Cheltenham Flyer. G.W.R. 1934 P8.

9/ G.W.R. Through The Window. Paddington to Penzance 1924; 'To Birkenhead, 1925; 'To Killarney, 1926.

10/ Through The Window. Paddington To Killarney. See particularly P7.

11/ Through The Window. Paddington to Penzance. P7.

12/ A.C. Lock. Railway Advertising. Is it on the right lines? G.W.R. (London) Lecture and Debating Society, G.W.R. No. 227, January 1929 P3.

13/ A.M. Broadley. The Cornish Riviera. G.W.R. 1904

14/ A.M. Broadley. Devon. The Shire Of The Sea Kings. G.W.R. 1904

15/ Beverley Cole and Richard Durack. Railway Posters, 1923-1947. National Railway Museum. York, 1992. 26

16/ G.E. Orton. Railway Publicity. Great Western Railway (London) Lecture and Debating Society Session 1934-35 No. 284 18 October 1934. P11

17/ Ibid Title Page

18/ G.W.R. Magazine, September 1934. Pp 417-419

19/ Ibid P2

20/ Ibid P2

21/ Ibid P3

22/ Ibid P5

23/ Ibid P11

24/ G.W.R. Magazine, September 1934. P419. See also Roger Burdett Wilson, Go Great Western. P32

25/ D. Richards. 'Advertising - with Special Reference to Railway Publicity. Great Western Railway (London) Lecture and Debating Society. G.W.R. No. 179, February 1925.

26/ Ibid P6. Richards developed this theme for railways, generally, contending that they did not "tell the public either lucidly or fully enough about the services they have to offer. The public often is in entire ignorance of many things a railway can do." P4.

27/ Ibid P16

28/ Ibid P16

29/ G.W.R. Magazine. Official Staff Changes. September 1934. P417

30/ D. Richards. Advertising.... Railway Publicity, P16

31/ Ibid P16

32/ C.S. Lock and A.C. Pickford. 'Railway Advertising. Is it on the right lines?" Great Western Railway (London) Lecture and Debating Society. G.W.R. No. 227. January 1929.

33/ Ibid P3

34/ Ibid P3 27

35/ Ibid P5. The Travel Association estimated the total number of visitors to Britain in 1938 as 720,429. By comparison, the figures for 1932 were 475,088. The Travel Association 1929-1969, London 1970. P11.

36/ G.W.R. Handbook for Travellers from Overseas. The Traveller In England. Where To Go: What To See. January 1926.

37/ Ibid P1

38/ Ibid P7

39/ Ibid P7

40/ Ibid P9

41/ Ibid P9

42/ Ibid P10

43/ Ibid P10

44/ Ibid P10

45/ Ibid PIO

46/ G.W.R. Sunny Cornwall. England's Mediterranean Region. c 1924

47/ See, for example, J.A.R. Pimlott, The Englishman's Holiday: A Social History. Faber and Faber, London. 1947. J.K. Walton, The English Seaside Resort: A Social History. 1750-1914 Leicester University Press. 1983. James Walvin, Beside the Seaside, Allen Lane, 1978. J.K. Walton and J. Walvin (eds), Leisure in Britain, 1780-1939, Manchester University Press, 1983. Stephen V. Ward, Selling Places: The marketing and promotion of towns and cities, 1850-2000, E. and F.N. Spon, Routledge, London 1998. David Matless. Landscape and Englishness. Reaktion Books, London 1998. John Urry. The Tourist Gaze. Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies. Sage, London, 1990.

48/ S.P.B. Mais. My Finest Holiday - Southern Railway 1927 Walks in North Devon. S.R. 1928 Hike for Health. S.R. c 1930 Southern Rambles for Londoners 1931 Walking at Weekends. S.R. 1936 Lets Get Out Here. S.R. 1937 28

49/ S.P.B. Mais. The Cornish Riviera; Glorious Devon. G.W.R. 1928 Maxwell Fraser. Somerset, G.W.R. 1934

50/ Maxwell Fraser, The Production of Holiday Haunts. G.W.R. Magazine, March 1930. P101.

51/ ibid P101

52/ Maxwell Fraser. Winter Resorts. G.W.R. 1934 ed

53/ Ibid PPs 4-6

54/ Holiday Haunts 1934 P338

55/ S.P.B. Mais. Glorious Devon, G.W.R. 1928 P78

56/ G.W.R. 'Holiday Haunts' 1937 P866

57/ Maxwell Fraser Southern Ireland G.W.R. 1932 H.V. Morton. In Search of Ireland Methuen, London. 1930.

58/ Fraser. Southern Ireland. P5.

59/ P.R.O. Rail 1080: 583 min 166. This also reveals the detailed differences in style and focus between the four British companies. There was a specific recognition of the difficulties involved in sinking individualities and agreeing points of interest, emphasis and presentation when called upon to work jointly, as in the integrated approach to the American market.

60/ Maxwell Fraser. England And Why, Great Western and Southern Railways 1932. ed.

61/ G.W.R. Magazine. Buy British Holidays. August. 1931. P342

62/ ibid P342

63/ These three publications were distinct amongst the G.W.R. literary works in being thorough academic productions with their own distinctive format and style, although 'Cathedrals', 1924, owed sections of its text to the earlier company production, 'Wonderful Wessex', A.M. Broadley, 1908. This trilogy, considered as prestige publications, carried no company advertisements.

64/ See Wilson. Go Great Western, for thematic link with G.W.R. 'Hikers' Specials and Mystery Trains P99

65/ See Hugh E. Page. Rambles in Shakespeare Land and the Cotswolds, G.W.R. 1933. P11. Rambles Around The Cambrian Coast, G.W.R. 1936. P8. 29

66/ G.W.R. Magazine October 1934.

67/ G.W.R. Magazine May, July, August 1938.

68/ Roger Burdett Wilson. Go Great Western. P98

69/ Ibid. Chapter Four and Five: Sale Publications; Holiday Haunts.

70/ G.E. Orton (G.W.R.) Address: Annual Dinner, Newquay Chamber of Commerce. `Newquay Express' 17 February 1938 P2.

71/ D. Richards. Advertising.. Special Ref. Railway Publicity P8.

72/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts 1939 P246.

73/ E.T. MacDermot. History of the Great Western Railway. G.W.R. London. Two Volumes 1927; 1931.

74/ George Revill. Working the system; journeys through corporate culture in the 'railway age.' Environment and Planning: Society and Space 1994. Vol. 12 pp 705 - 25 See P710. 30

CHAPTER TWO Industrial Interests

The G.W.R. handbook, 'Holiday Haunts' for the centenary year, 1935, carried an explicit statement with reference to the company's popular identity: that its 'Holiday

Line' image, "has completely overshadowed in the minds of the general public that of its extensive industrial interests." I Given that such a statement was surely an outstanding instance of the G.W.R.'s carefully considered and creative promotional policy, it cannot be taken at face value and must be contextualised by reference to relative perfor- mances and returns and to the commercial expediency of specific image-building. It is significant therefore to note that the company's own records for revenue in 1934, as published in the January 1935 edition of the G.W.R. Magazine declared its respective returns indicating higher earnings from freight traffic than from the passenger business.

Passenger Train Receipt: 46 weeks to Nov 18, 1934: £9,356,000. Overall freight traffic: 46 weeks to Nov 18, 1934: £12,798,000. Likewise, the statement in January 1938 for the previous year - to December 12: Passenger Receipts - £10,603,000 (+ £217,000 on 1936) Overall freight: £15,462,000 (+979,000).2 Emphasis upon the would-be primacy of holiday-orientated imagery was seen as commercially expedient in terms of its traffic potential as a means of offsetting considerable losses in respect of the older, heavy industries, particularly coal, which, up to the early 1920s, had been a major revenue earner. Moreover, throughout the inter-war era, whenever possible and particularly in the thirties, the company presented industrial interests in dramatic imagery, as no less than the contemporary urban, industrial and, indeed, internationally orientated equivalent of the G.W.R.'s historical-cultural presentation. Paddington thereby ensured that the company was projected and perceived as constituting and fulfilling the identity of all things to all people. To this end, 'Glorious Devon' or 'Shakespeare Land' were effect- 31 ively no more quintessentially Great Western than was the 'Black Country' or the dock- lands and coalfields of South Wales. The guiding principle was that of an integrated identity.

In many ways, the company employed the stylistically inspired characterisation definitive of so much of its tourist identity to dramatise and mythologise industrial and mercantile interests. Above all, the company was determined to present both a progressive and, specifically, an international context in all its promotional activities, with particular emphasis upon Imperial identifications. This much was apparent in the 1924 publication, 'Commerce and the Great Western Railway', with its recognition of the fundamental structural changes that were taking shape at that time and of the need to accommodate them.

The supreme importance of the area [G.W.R. network] served does

not lie so much in its constituting the present hub of British indust-

rial life, as in the fact that, with its well-placed sites for new works,

factories and warehouses, this part of Great Britain is naturally

marked out as the home of the new and intense development of

our commerce and history which must be forthcoming in the imm-

ediate future ...

It will naturally follow that, if this country is to maintain its posi-

tion as 'The World's Trader', manufacturers must give particular

attention to the location of their works.3

Although the industrial identity, publicly, was of a lower key than that of tourism, works such as 'Through the Window. Paddington to Birkenhead', 1925, considered the 'Black

Country', "as vital to England as the works are to a watch." 4 Heavy industry became,

"commercial power stations of the Empire and the world",5 essential to the overall

English imperial representations. "Machinery", that which "makes the difference

between barbarism and civilisation",6 was the special creative achievement of 'Black 32

Country' England - At night it was "the lurid glow of furnaces and blaze of light"7 at

West Bromwich that inspired the nocturnal traveller, offering challenging perspectives on vital industrial activity.

Mindful of the widest international context and of the commercial imperative of celebrating modern, dynamic perspectives, the Great Western produced a range of requisite promotional works. "Build Your Works on the G.W.R. The Best Location', 8 was an early thirties brochure designed to attract industry to Great Western locations with their "valuable transport facilities for the delivery of raw materials and swift despatch of finished products."9 Its designation, "Great Western Railway of England," indicated the direct appeal to prospective North American business. Particular emphasis was given to modern sites in the London area and to the modern concept of the factory site and means of production as exemplified in the Hoover building at Slough. Products from the new factory locations were listed to underline the modern character - "margarine, motor cars, radio equipment, dairy machinery and appliances, confectionery, tins for the canning industry, wallpaper, lamps etc."10

'The Best Location', 1932, stressed that the facilities and sites offered by the

G.W.R. appealed to the modern businessman and throughout this publication the focus was that of modernity, efficiency and service. Direct contrasts were drawn with the older nineteenth century industrial locations, emphasising, again, the modernity, the sense of transformation and direct reference to contemporary technology.

Observers who have paid a first visit to the factory areas which have

come into being in recent years in the western suburbs of London

have been struck by the remarkable contrast between the cleanliness

and brightness of these localities as compared with the grime and

squalor associated with the older industrial areas of Great Britain.

This attributable partly to the use of electricity instead of raw fuel

and partly to other important factors which have contributed to the 33

transformation.11

Amongst these contributing factors was that of the specially selected site "where the atmosphere is as free as possible from smoke and dirt which emanates from every large city." 12 Low rates were also essential and were forthcoming in Middlesex and, in con- sequence:

Low rates attract not only factory promoters but also home seekers

from the Metropolis; and the garden cities of the suburbs assure to

the manufacturer a constant supply of labour of the best type.13

In an apparent reversal of the rural myth, 'The Best Location', commented upon the rapid transformation of the landscape, registering its endorsement of industrial enterprise.

A passenger travelling by the Great Western Railway from Padding-

ton to the West of England or by direct line to Birmingham, today

sees from the carriage window modern factories pulsating with

industrial energy, where a few years ago cows and sheep grazed

placidly. 14

The positive perspective on industry was fully consistent with established G.W.R. practice in the pursuit of a collective identity. Modern industrial sites and conven- iently-located contemporary suburban housing developments such as that advertised in

'Holiday Haunts', 1931, for Ritchings Park Estate, Iver, engaged progressive perspectives in social, economic and cultural terms, augmenting the concept of Englishness as the advertisement in 'Holiday Haunts' suggested.

Live amid the Parklands of Buckinghamshire in a modern house

with modern conveniences. Electric lighting, heating and cooking.

Live healthy in a county well to the windward of London smoke

and fog. Palatial cinemas, nine acres of Recreation Grounds, Hard

Tennis Courts, Golf Links within easy reach, vicinity of Stoke 34

Poges, Burnham Beeches, Windsor, Taplow and Maidenhead for

the River.15

The G.W.R. projected decidedly contemporary, fashionable imagery in its perceived close association with the British film industry. In an article from the company magazine in 1936, entitled, 'The British Film Industry Grows Around the Great Western

Railway', 16 it portrayed itself as being in the vanguard of dynamic innovation by celebrating its direct identification with the Denham studio of the 'London Film

Productions,' which the G.W.R. proclaimed as "the biggest in the empire;" 17 with the newly opened Pinewood Studios at Iver Heath; the 'Associated Talking Pictures' studios at Ealing Common and the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation at Shepherds Bush.

Thus, the unreserved statements of distinction and dynamic characterisation: the vital projection of image:

The development of the [film] industry has been rapid, particularly

so on the west side of London in the past twelve months, with the

result that Paddington now finds itself in the very heart of Britain's

Hollywood. With the growth of the film industry, Paddington has

gradually and unconsciously assumed a film complex. Film stars,

directors, employees, cameramen and buyers - those who scout

around the world to bring the right atmosphere and properties to the

set - are now part of its everyday life, passing to and fro between the

terminus and the studio stations .•.18

The West London locations at Denham and Iver were pronounced as offering film producers, "as nearly ideal conditions as they are likely to get in this country" 19 ... and, in so doing, also spelled out the G.W.R.'s own definition of the contemporary ideal, in its complete and graduated form, of rural, aesthetic excellence in combination with the best of modern amenities to make access and availability no problem at all. The dialectic of country and city and all the cultural significance that this entailed was thus 35 expressed through the film industry. Detailing "the ideal conditions" the G.W.R. continued:

.... beautiful surroundings, varied scenery at hand, quiet of the

countryside, freedom from the suburbia, room to develop and com-

plete isolation for their self-contained communities, yet within rapid

communication with London - the main source of supply for artists

and material, which now pass in increasing volume.20

Reporting the opening of the Pinewood Studios on 30 September 1936, the G.W.R. offered every evidence stylistically of its association with the ethos and imagery of this potent symbol of modernity, celebrating its obviously exclusive, chic status.

For the official opening of Pinewood Studios on September 30 last,

a special train was run from Paddington to some of the 1,200 guests

who attended the luncheon. In design, the studios are the most

advanced yet seen in movie architecture. They stand in a hundred

acres of grounds which includes a deer park, a swimming pool,

acres of ornamental gardens, woods and the former residence of

Colonel Grant Morden, which has been converted into Britain's

most exclusive film club, having a limited membership confined

to people with outstanding reputations in films.2I

Progressive indicators such as these were intended to reflect the resolute achievement of a contemporary railway company claiming the vanguard of economic enterprise. Such developments were all the more welcome in view of the rapidly declining prospects for the company's hitherto lucrative trade in the export of coal from the South Wales field.

The long-term and severe downturn in traffic hit hard at the docks trade.

South Wales, in the thirties, was in the grip of a serious depression in trade and

industry. Two detailed statements on the industrial crisis, principally related to the con-

siderable decline of the export trade in coal, but also addressing wider, systemic problems, 36 were presented in the company magazine in August 1936 and July 1938.22 The former, relating the circumstances of the formation of the South Wales Trade Recovery and

Expansion System, described South Wales as "a mere simulacrum of its previous self"23.

Warnings of widespread social and political disaffection and "dangers to the interests of the State as a whole" 24 were given as a spur to action, thus, industrial enterprise in the form of new and diverse industries in South Wales was identified by the Great Western as a social and commercial imperative. This was the theme of 'New Industries for South

Wales', 1938, an article underlining the necessary economic and social identification between Paddington and South Wales. The agenda was of development and change and of citizenship and common cause. It offered imagery of warfare - the conflict between prosperity and unemployment, "the country's greatest enemy" 25 - with its reference to a large-scale campaign and policy map indicating investment in South Wales, which was prominent in both the General Manager's office and that of the Chief Goods Manager at

Paddington.

In working with the Special Areas (Development and Improvement) Act of 1934 and the Amendment Act of 1937, the G.W.R. looked to the revitalisation and re-structuring of industrial activity in South Wales. Noting the social impact that characterised economic decline, the company recorded the ailing condition of the established heavy industries

"Most of the collieries were idle; the ironworks, if not entirely closed

down, were working only part time; shops were closed and empty;

in the valleys property was derelict; "men in their scores hung around

street corners and - most depressing of all things - one could only see

the older people and children; there seemed to be very few youths.26

It was stressed that the Chief Goods Officer's department had worked with potential business interests, nationally and internationally. Foreign investors were encouraged by the G.W.R.'s provision of linguists and with community-based strategies to find 37 appropriate industrial sites, domestic housing, schools, religious and retail amenities. As a matter of policy the company looked to a new industrial structure - "For the first time in its history, South Wales is relinquishing its dependence upon coal" 27 - and, as in the

London area, the new, light industries were identified with progress and prosperity. They also, significantly, broke with the close connection of the particular industrial traditions of coal and iron with recognised regionals; the new industries exemplified ubiquity.

The G.W.R. article, identified "a new era for the region"28 and included the familiar recital of wide-ranging products - 'sewing machines, glass, biscuits, paper, gloves, toys, electrical goods, sweets, chemicals, paints' and so on 29 - and, in conclusion, linked these directly with wider social and economic development: the context of community.

When these attractive new industries become productive we shall

see fewer idle men and women reflecting poverty and gloom in the

valleys ... but as we hope, happy people, bright shops, crowded

passenger trains, fully loaded goods trains, busy seaside resorts,

well-nourished children and other signs of trade activity30

In cultivating a decidedly contemporary, dynamic representation, the G.W.R.'s industrial-orientated literature looked to concepts of regeneration and reinvention, in production, commodities and communities. Both large and small-scale industries were involved, particularly those dealing with merchandising and processing, as in the example of a newly commissioned flour mill and factory at Cardiff, featured in the G.W.R.

Magazine in March 1935. General merchandise traffic was the most lucrative within the freight sector and within this category the G.W.,R. outperformed the L.M.S., L.N.E.R. and the S.R. throughout the inter-war period.31 The numerous articles and press statements covering new factories emphasised the collectively inspirational properties inherent in design, function and image-building, as here, in the new mill in Cardiff.

Impressions left upon the visitor are those of the dignity of modern

large-scale industry when seen at its best, of skill and ingenuity in 38

design of the buildings and of their equipment and efficiency,

thoroughness and cleanliness in all the production processes.32

'Commerce and the Great Western Railway,' as mentioned, set trade in an international and imperial context and the company, therefore, made much of the role of its various docks, principally in South Wales - "Britain's Western Gateways." This was a policy carried through to the last days of the company in 1947.

Britain to a very great extent lives by the sea-borne traffic that flows

into and from her thriving ports. There is scarcely a trade that does

not look out over the boundaries of these islands, either in viewing

the markets that are to consume a portion of its industry or in search

of the raw materials that go to the making of the finished products

upon which its livelihood depends. It is therefore important to study

in detail the actual facilities that the Great Western Railway has to

offer on the quayside for that import and export trade which of nec-

essity plays such an important part in the commercial life of our

nation •B

The Centenary publication in association with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,

1927,34 gave the G.W.R. the opportunity for valuable promotionary work in the U.S.A.

This volume informed American readers that by 1927 the G.W.R. had invested over five million dollars in improvements with an overall predicted further investment in excess of fifteen million dollars. 35 Looking forward to 1945 and thereby indicating continuity of policy and practice, G.W.R. publicity was directed immediately to economic recovery from World War Two. With foreign trade a priority, booklets in Russian, French and

Spanish editions entitled 'The Ports of South Wales and Their Development, During And

After The War' were issued in December that year.36

`Twixt Rail and Sea',37 from 1927, was one of a series of books by W.G. Chapman dealing with various dimensions of Great Western engineering and commercial 39 enterprise. The foreword to this popularist expression of enterprise within the Docks

Department was explicit.

It seems fitting that as the Great Western Railway - this railway of

records - now owns the largest and most important group of docks

in the world, the next volume in the series should deal with that

vital link in modern commerce between land and sea.38

Looking here for the character and imagery of this important dimension of G.W.R. enterprise as opposed to specific details, we can refer to a general statement on the South

Wales docks, reflecting the high levels of investment and ongoing achievement. The repetition of the word, "new" indicated something of the scale of modern development.

Wherever we go in the South Wales docks we see signs of new

works either recently completed or under construction - new joists,

new power stations, miles of additional sidings, new machinery,

new hydraulic mains, new transit sheds, new warehouses and new

quayside cranes. All around us is evidence that the Great Western

Railway Company has been very busy improving the docks since

they became part of its vast undertaking.39

Elsewhere, Chapman consistently pointed the reader to the dynamic, cosmopolitan context of Great Western trade and commerce. As a thriving passenger port, Plymouth has been proclaimed, 'the Gateway into England from the Atlantic.' 40 At Cardiff the context widened.

Look at the names and signs over the (dockland) shop fronts. The

names are those of the shopkeepers who are of many nationalities and

the signs indicate that their customers speak a variety of languages

- Greek, German, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Chinese, Scandinavian,

Dutch; in fact all the maritime countries are catered for. The people

we now pass are largely men of colour - black, brown or yellow.41 40

This was an ethos far removed from the 'haunts of ancient peace' in deepest rural

England, but it was a definitive dimension of Great Western enterprise. Chapman's delight in relating the scale and variety of goods, trade and activities - the commonplace commodities together with the more unusual and exotic - was clearly apparent.

Inspecting Cardiff's Queen Alexandra Dock, Chapman described the contents of the transit sheds and cold stores with some relish, the range of goods and, equally, the cosmopolitan context, conferred a sense of glamour and confident achievement on the company.

This great stack of cases contains butter from New Zealand. Nearby

you can see veritable mountains of cheese and these are boxes of

apples from Canada and the Antipodes. Now we come to oranges

from Spain and Jaffa, dried fruits, sultanas, raisins, currants etc.

from the Middle East and those chests containing tea from India,

Ceylon and the Far East.42

Imperial and international perspectives, always important to the overall G.W.R. identity, were always a feature of the company's promotion of commerce and trade, again asserting the Greater Britain identity. Consistent with the literature and film material promoted by The Empire Marketing Board, 1926-1933,43 the G.W.R. drew upon

'family' imagery in its reference to the Empire and, significantly, to the shifting perception away from militarist, territorial dimensions to those of the empire of trade and the expression and structural process of interdependence. This was evident in the company's endorsement of 'The Fellowship of the British Empire Association' featured in the

Magazine in 1925.

One of the main ideas is to encourage a 'family feeling' in all the

peoples of the Empire and it is felt that this must go a long way

towards the betterment of Empire trade and the promotion of Empire

development.44 41

Similarly, the Foreword to 'Commerce and The Great Western Railway.'

Every Business Man, whether from Overseas, or representing indus-

try in this country, during his visit to the British Empire Exhibition,

will have uppermost in his mind how he can best develop trade bet-

ween Britain and Overseas in order to secure the fullest advantage

of the great markets of the Empire.45

The 'family feeling' of the British Empire Association accorded with Stanley

Baldwin's representation of Empire and Imperialism in terms of duties and ideas of a

"Commonwealth of British Nations" 46 John Mackenzie, however, cautions that, within popular perceptions and for all its international idealism and economic harmony, "it was an Empire of stereotypes, climactic, national and racial, which bore little relation to the colonial reality of the thirties.. ."4 But, he also recognises that "it seems to have won considerable support across the political spectrum." 48 Stephen Constantine, in developing Mackenzie's reference, also signals parallel perspectives on the part of the G.W.R. in its identification with imperial interests.

The business of extracting economic benefits for Britain from imp-

erial connections involved British ministers in obsessive concern

with migration, tariff and colonial development policies. Such an

agenda, though with different emphases, was adopted by Labour

and Liberal parties as well as by the Conservatives (and the British

Union of Fascists) and was endorsed consistently by such organ-

isations of industry and commerce as the Federation of British

Industries and not infrequently by the Trades Union Congress.

Moreover, the period shows no diminution but, if anything, an

increase in the amount of propaganda, which pressed upon the

British public through a wider range of media, the virtues and

values of Empire.49 42

Considered in these terms of reference, the British Empire Exhibition of 1924-25 and the G.W.R.'s commemorative literature thereof, or events such as the ceremonial departure of 'The Cornish Riviera Express' from Paddington with the locomotive dis- playing the "Empire Marketing Board/Great Western Railway" commemorative head- board on Monday November 23, 1931, 50 suggested a popular, practical perception of empire, contrasting with that of the suggested illusionary semblance of the "white empire on the cigarette cards and souvenir biscuit-tins," in children's scrap-books "and the minds of men" as argued by Correlli Barnett. 51 The Paddington ceremony, part of the "buy British From The Empire At Home And Overseas Campaign," was attended by

G.W.R. dignitaries, The Secretary of State for the Dominions and Chairman of the

Empire Marketing Board together with the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of London.

It was an unequivocal statement of imperial identification and orientation at both national and company levels, according directly with the G.W.R. policy of the creative integration of commercial and cultural identities. This relationship was further reflected in the re-naming of 'The Travel Association of Great Britain and Ireland', itself, one part of the 'Come To Britain Movement' of 1926. From February 1932 The Travel

Association became 'The Travel and Industrial Development Association of Great

Britain and Ireland.'52

As with international, imperial perspectives, so similarly, 'Next Station', G.W.R.,

1947,53 celebrated the range of perishable produce originating from the various regional sources within its territory. The passage here from the chapter, 'The Freight Service', reinforced the sense of organic identity and considerably enhanced the Great Western's reputation through its close association with its many productive horticultural districts, resonant of the imagery of genial climate and the general sense of abundance. Urban/ rural and cultural/commercial representations were again apparent.

To people in London and other great cities, the flower expresses from

Cornwall which ran again for the first time in April 1946, brought the 43

pleasantest of reminders that peace had indeed returned to this hard-

pressed land. In that year's season, express freight trains carried for

distribution throughout the country 175,000 tons of fruit and vege-

tables - broccoli and early potatoes from West Wales, plums, apples,

beans, peas, brussel sprouts, asparagus and other delicacies from the

Vale of Evesham and tomatoes from the Channel Islands (over four-

and-a-half million packages from Guernsey and Jersey were handled

at Weymouth). To ensure that these highly perishable goods reached

the market as soon after harvesting as possible, over a thousand

special trains were run, not counting the fifteen special expresses

which ran daily to distribute the plum crops of the short Worcester

season.54

Such images had a long pedigree. Many years earlier, in 1904, no less than the

G.W.R. General Manager, James C. Inglis, presented a company article entitled, 'A New

Railway Through the Garden of England.' 55 With reference to the new line linking

Birmingham to Cheltenham, Inglis focused upon the horticultural trade centred around

Toddington, Again evoking the Great Western identity by association with the rich, rural

and historical imagery of England and, therein, the commercial potential in traffic. Thus,

again, the evidence for the commercial-cultural interaction.

The cultivation of plums of all kinds received considerable attention.

Plum trees adapt themselves to the soil in the situation while the

space between the trees is utilised for strawberries, gooseberries and

raspberries etc., as well as vegetables of all description ... The finer

kinds of fruit - peach, nectarine, apricot, etc. - are grown under

glass on a wholesale scale, the earliest peaches commanding high

prices at Covent Garden market.56

Whilst these various forms of perishables were undoubtedly the most attractive and 44 appealing of merchandise traffic, they also contributed substantially to the 56 per cent of mileage in freight run by the G.W.R. on a weekly basis, as compared with 44 per cent for passenger trains. 57 Merchandise freight, as noted, had been one of the G.W.R.'s most sustained and lucrative sources of traffic during the inter-war years, thus progress was geared to efficient administration and detailed modern investment. As expressed in the 'Next Station,' 1947. "It is object of the management to reap all the advantages of centralised control, but to combine them with the intimate grasp of local conditions...."58

Investment covered many dimensions, evident through the thirties, from the provision of new goods sheds for efficient handling and dispersal, to modern refrigerated and ventilated freight vans, particularly for perishable traffic. The company also invested in research projects as in the work carried out in horticulture in West Cornwall, particularly the flower traffic. 59 The imagery of the land of early flowers was exploited by the

G.W.R. for potential tourist traffic. Early anemones, for example, were displayed in

London's Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road with the invitation to "See the Flower

Fields." Publicity for the Cornish Riviera Express was incorporated into the enterprise60

The G.W.R.'s industrial imagery was characterised by its thematic structuring of international-national; national-regional and, therein, commercial-cultural interactions.

In its literary presentation the company looked to locate its industrial interests within what it perceived to be the collective, organic representation of the nation, engaging cultural and commercial perspectives on as many levels of appreciation as possible. 45

References

Chapter Two

1/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts. The Centenary of the Holiday Line. 1935. P33

2/ G.W.R. Magazine, January, 1935, P6. January, 1938, P4.

3/ G.W.R. Commerce and the Great Western Railway, April, 1924, P19

4/ G.W.R. Through The Window, Paddington To Birkenhead, P51

5/ Ibid P51

6/ Ibid P51

7/ Ibid P51

8. G.W.R. Build Your Works on the G.W.R. The Best Location, 1932

9/ Ibid P1

10/ The Best Location, March, 1936 (Revised Edition)

11/ The Best Location, 1932,. P2

12/ Ibid P3

13/ Ibid P3

14/ Ibid P3

15/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts. Advertisement: `Ritchings Park', 1931, P66.

16/ G.W.R. Magazine, December, 1936. P575-77

17/ Ibid P577

18/ Ibid P577

19/ Ibid P577

20/ Ibid P577

21/ Ibid P577

22/ G.W.R. Magazine, August 1936. The Problem of Restoring Prosperity to South Wales. PP 369-372 G.W.R. Magazine, July 1938. New Industries for South Wales PP273-2 46

23/ G.W.R. Magazine. Problem .... Prosperity South Wales P369

24/ Ibid P368

25/ G.W.R. Magazine. New Industries ... South Wales P273

26/ Ibid P274

27/ Ibid PP274

28/ Ibid P275

29/ Ibid PP274-275

30/ Ibid P275

31/ John W.E. Helm. The Grouping Years (1923-1938). A comparative Study Of The Railways In Crisis. PART TWO. TRAFFIC RESULTS Back Track Vol XI P19, February, 1997 P75-76

32/ G.W.R. Magazine, December 1935 P147. See also for example, G.W.R. Magazine, Oct 1924, P385, 'The Chocolate Traffic'. (Fry's at Bristol) with its imagery of "truck loads of chocolate" and the context of "the River Avon with its willow-hung banks [which] flows very near." Likewise, 'The World's Largest Milk Depot.' G.W.R. Magazine, Feb. 1935, P75. "Equipped with the most modern plant for processing by pasteurization, homogenisation and sterilization and with a laboratory for bacteriological and chemical control, the depot is one of the marvels of the milk industry." The depot at Wood Lane in West London was the focus for milk traffic from all parts of the company's system. The article included a structural reference indicative of the metropolitan perspective and city- country dialectic. Noting "the scattered farms" - the first stage - the milk was then transferred to 'concentration depots' in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset and West Wales, for example, the inter- mediate stage, and thence to London's Wood Lane in the specially designed glass-lined tankers, for its treatment - the final stage. Thus, again, the organic, interactive structure is expressed. Other such intended wholesome identifications came with the fruit, vegetable, flower and fish traffic from the various representative regions of the G.W.R. This 'wholesome' imagery was also utilised in several instances of poster work.

33/ G.W.R. Commerce and the Great Western Railway. 1924. P9

34/ G.W.R. Great Western Railway of England 1837-1927, Souvenir published by G.W.R. of England in connection with the Centenary Exhibition and Pageant of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Sept 24 - Oct 8, 1927. 47

35/ Ibid P23

36/ G.W.R. The Ports of South Wales And Their Development During And After The War. Acknowledged Chief Docks Manager, Leslie Ford G.W.R. Cardiff. December 1945. This was a policy closely linked with that of the British Travel Association's initiative begun earlier, in 1937: British Travel Association 1929-1969, British Travel Authority, London. 1970. P10.

37/ W.G. Chapman. Twixt Rail And Sea, G.W.R. 1927

38/ Ibid Foreword

39/ Ibid P73

40/ G.W.R. Great Western Railway Ports. (Plymouth), 1937, P71

41/ Chapman Twixt Rail And Sea, P61

42/ Ibid P64. Chapman's general reference here drew upon an extensive literature of the celebration literature of the celebration and interaction of empire, trade and cultural identity. From Classical representations of Alexandria or Ostia or the sixteenth and seventeenth century geo-political relationship of Europe to the Orient and the New World in the art and literature of Portugal, Italy, Spain and the Low Countries; likewise, the colonial- mercantile interests of Britain and France in the eighteenth century and through the self-conscious Crown-Imperial perspectives of Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, cultural authority was paramount. The Baedeker Guides to Britain through the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries likewise reflect the international, cosmopolitan credentials of political, economic and cultural authority. See also Alain Corbin. Lure Of The Sea. Chapter Seven: The Visit To The Harbour, PP187-97

43/ See John M. Mackenzie, ed. Imperialism And Popular Culture, Chapter Nine, Stephen Constantine. 'Bringing The Empire Alive.' The Empire Marketing Board And Imperial Propaganda, 1926-33, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1986

44/ G.W.R. Magazine April, 1925. P147

45/ G.W.R. Commerce And The Great Western Railway P3

46/ Stanley Baldwin. On England, Penguin ed. 1939 PPs 187-88 Philip Wilkinson 'Stanley Baldwin' P264.

47/ John M. Mackenzie, ed. Imperialism And Popular Culture. In Touch with the Infinite, P186 48

48/ Ibid P186

49/ Stephen Constantine. Bringing the Empire Alive, John Mackenzie ed. Imperialism And Popular Culture P192 See also Raphael Samuel. Island Stories. Unravelling Britain. Versa, London, 1998. Empire Stories: The Imperial and the Domestic. PPs 84-93 London Underground. London Guide No. 3, 1924. P133. Kew Gardens in context of commercial welfare of Empire.

50/ G.W.R. Magazine, December, 1931. P507

51/ Correlli Barnett. The Collapse Of British Power, Alan Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 1984 P211. Barnett's sustained critique of what he considered the disingenuous 'Little England' perceptions of Empire are evident in his chosen imagery and, specifically, in his representation of Stanley Baldwin (PP65-68). This, together with what he considered was Britain's misplaced faith in any Anglo-American 'special relationship', indicated something of his impatience and barely concealed contempt for the domesticated, commercial perspectives and sentimentally inspired imperial policies that he derides throughout his work.

52/ G.W.R. Magazine, February, 1932, P96

53/ Christian Barman. Next Station. A Railway Plans For The Future, George Allen and Unwin, London for the G.W.R. 1947.

54/ Ibid P19

55/ James C. Inglis. 'A New Railway Through The Garden of England', G.,W.R. Magazine, October 1904. Inglis also incorporated a considerable historical-cultural dimension in this work, celebrating perspectives of landscape, tradition and cultural identity.

56/ Ibid P168

57/ John W.E. Helm. The Grouping Years (1923-1938 P74/75)

58/ Christian Barman. Next Station, P18

59/ G.W.R. Magazine. The Spring Harvest of the West Country, April, 1938 PPs 141-143

60/ Ibid Cornish Anemones Come to Town December 1938. P493 49

CHAPTER THREE Landscape, Literature and Stylistic Differentials

THE WYE VALLEY: PANORAMIC PERSPECTIVES AND THE POETRY OF RAPID MOTION

THE COTSWOLDS: THE REFLECTIVE GAZE

As a fundamental principle in the formulation and perception of cultural imagery

Anthony D. Smith 'The Ethnic Origins of Nations', 1986, emphasised "the fusion of community and terrain through the identification of natural with historic sites."

Relating examples from Europe, the Middle and Far Easts, Smith identifies natural features - rivers, mountains, lakes, wetlands arid so on, likewise, castles, abbeys, monasteries and variously formulated civic and religious sites, personalities and events - as "symbols of the sources of national genius and creativity. •"2 This perspective has been addressed in the previous chapter in terms of Alain Corbin's representation of the harbour and the co-ordinates of trade, industry and national or civic prestige; the following three chapters examine the G.W.R.'s handling of this 'Fusion' principle and the symbolic properties of landscape in engaging three definitive areas of the company's cultural expression. This chapter looks to the representation of the Wye Valley (the lower reaches, from Hereford) and the Cotswolds as landscapes of Englishness; Chapter Five examines the G.W.R.'s Celtic construction and Chapter Six, that of England as constructed within the political, historical and aesthetic agenda of cultural inheritance and mission directed at American interests.

The G.W.R.'s literary works 'The Wye Valley', Volumes One and Two, 1924, part of the company's 'Handy-Aid' series, were, superficially, routine guide books celebrating that specific landscape and its aesthetic and historical attractions. Volume One covered 50 the Upper Wye; Volume Two, the lower reaches from Hereford to Chepstow. But these works were also distinctive in that their particular literary focus and stylistic form set them somewhat apart from most G.W.R. works. Of all the 'Handy Aid' publications,

'The Wye Valley', 1924, Volumes One and Two, were the only examples that incorporated the railway route and journey directly into the text, integrating it as a thematic feature and focus. The 'Through The Window' series - Paddington To Penzance,

Birkenhead and Killarney, 1924, 25 and 26,m respectively, had a similar style but operated in terms of a thematic link with Paddington.

Sub-titled, 'Ins Stately Castles, Matchless Ruins, Old-World Towns and Lovely

Scenery', 'The Wye Valley' delivered its historical, aesthetic and cultural agenda by means of its challenging and dynamic adaptation of two literary perspectives on landscape and perception. The first of these addressed the tradition of the picturesque journey - the Introduction to 'Volume Two' acknowledged William Gilpin's, 'Observations on the River Wye and Several Parts of South Wales, etc., relative chiefly to Picturesque

Beauty', 1782 - wherein, the desired aesthetic experience was carefully identified and thence composed in terms of elevation, perspective, backdrop and so on, and was thus celebrated through the received stylistic conventions of this literary genre. The second, and seemingly contradictory perspective, was that of Panoramic Travel. This was the experience of landscape as seen from the moving train; a perceptual process different in its subject - object orientation from that of close, detailed observation, as explained by

Wolfgang Schivelbusch in "The Railway Journey".

Panoramic perception, in contrast to traditional perception, no longer

belonged to the same space as the perceived objects: the traveller saw

the objects, landscapes, etc. through the apparatus that moved him

through the world. That machine and the motion it created became

integrated into his visual perception: thus he could only see things in

motion. That mobility of vision - for a traditionally orientated 51

sensorium, such as Ruskin's, an agent for the dissolution of reality -

became a prerequisite for the normality of panoramic vision. This

vision no longer experienced evanescence: evanescent reality had

become the new reality.3

Thus Schivelbusch observed:

The railroad choreographed the landscape. The motion of the train

shrank space, and thus displayed in immediate succession objects

and pieces of scenery that in their original spatiality belonged to

separate realms. The traveller who gazed through the compartment

window at such successive scenes, acquired a novel ability that

Gastineau calls "la philosophie synthetique du comp d oeil," (the

synthetic philosophy of the glance).4

It was this perspective of dynamic impact, that characterised the Paddington-Birkenhead volume of 'Through the Window', G.W.R., 1925, in its celebrations of the progressive and dramatically contrasting choreography of Shakespeare's Warwickshire and the industrial sublime of the Birmingham-West Bromwich districts seen from the train in a relatively short space of time. Thus in encompassing urban, industrial and deeply rural landscapes in somewhat rapid and seemingly random procession, the panoramic vision further reinforced the collective imagery of the G.W.R. landscape and territory - the dialogue between country and city.

Looking specifically to the Wye Valley itinerary, the G.W.R. offered three particular experiential elements: the pleasures of a landscape structured and articulated through the received literary convention of the picturesque; the choreographed spectacle of the panoramic vision and the accompanying dimension of effortless access and service - the convenience offered by the train, combining comfort and efficiency with the singular, exclusive angle of vision that was the gift of the railway journey. All Great Western literature relating to the Wye Valley emphasised the role of the railway in presenting the 52 most dramatically challenging, panoramic perspectives. 'Historic Sites and Scenes' declared: "For the traveller who has little time at his disposal there is no better way of seeing the beauty of the sylvan Wye than from the carriage of a Great Western train."5

Similarly, 'The Wye Valley', Vol II, eagerly assured its readers: "The Great Western

Railway holds the keys to the Wye Valley, as it does that of almost all famous holiday- haunts of the West."6 'The Wye Valley'. Vol I noted that, "the Cambrian railroad

[G.W.R., following the Railway's Act, 1921 as noted earlier] is on more consistently intimate terms with the river than the road."7

By way of a further and final stylistic reference within this introductory context, both volumes of 'The Wye Valley' focused upon the sense of spectacle and aesthetic distinction but it is also evident that the literary style was directly expressive of sensation and movement as reflected in the constant references to successive challenging angles of vision, the extensive recourse to active verbs - "climbing, rushing, falling, running," - in the interactive presentation of the movement of the train within the landscape. Thus, the thematic focus of journeying and of progressive discovery was not simply stated but was conveyed through stylistic participation, after the manner of the panoramic vision and

R.G. Bradley's "poetry of rapid motion through rural England"8

This overall perspective on the Wye Valley inevitably sharpened the commercial potential of the line, not least, in terms of the North American market, given the stylised focus of aesthetic, historical encounter. As always, the G.W.R. stressed the easy access to the Wye Valley and the various, convenient starting points. It offered three particular gateways, each one linked to Paddington, to underline this convenience and to promote cultural and collective identity. Llanidloes marked the northern approach, with Hereford and Ross-on-Wye offering access to the lower reaches. Through trains from Paddington served each of these three 'gateways' whilst Moat Lane Junction, for Llanidloes, also catered for valuable trade from Liverpool, Manchester and the North generally. This survey concentrates on 'The Wye Valley,' Vol II. 53

The second volume covered the better known and easily accessible lower districts

along the river, from Hereford to Chepstow, where it met the Severn. This entire

stretch of the River Wye was presented in the literary context of the picturesque and the sublime, given the numerous opportunities en-route, to celebrate the dramatic com-

binations of landscape, historical interest and challenging aesthetic perspectives.

Hereford was the key location in every sense. It was presented in terms of its distinguished historical identity which was paramount, but the overall cultural context was significantly enhanced through the specific interaction of the historical imagery - the iconography of cathedral, castle and city, - with the rich, rural landscape that characterised the wider social and political identity. Together, they evoked Englishness, as in the resonant cultural imagery of "the English cathedral city that has stood for more than a thousand years on the banks of the Wye. [in a landscape] largely made up of tree-clad hills, and meadows dotted with pollard oaks." 9 The G.W.R. was forthright in asserting historical identity, as in 'Holiday Haunts'.

Hereford was one of the great towns of Saxon England and was the

capital of the Mercian Kings, who founded the cathedral, which in

its present form, is chiefly from the eleventh century. Apart from the

fine Norman work, Hereford Cathedral is rich in treasures and curio-

sities. The Mappa Mundi, a great wall map dating from 1300, is

unique and the chained library contains over 2000 rare and beautiful

books. 10

Attention was also drawn to the Cathedral School, endowed in 1382; The Bishop's

Palace, the castle, "built by Harold in 1055 . . . completely demolished by Cromwell's soldiers," and "some beautiful half-timbered houses to link the town with its long and troubled past." 11 The emphasis in this literary celebration was clearly that of a distinguished cultural heritage celebrated in a clearly formulated past-present spectrum.

In maintaining the stylistic presentation of 'the journey', however, 'The Wye 54

Valley' created the spatial dimension and the sensation of onward progress by defining

the landscape between Hereford and Ross-on-Wye thematically, as the 'prelude' to ever-

more impressive experience.

The portion of the Wye Valley that lies between Hereford and Ross

must be regarded as a prelude to that supremely impressive scenery

which is to be found on either side of "the bounteous river" between

Ross and its junction with the great tidal stream, "the Severn Sea."

You no sooner quit the capital of Pomonia than you find yourself

amongst verdant meadows and fruitful orchards, traversing some of

the richest pasture land in all England.I2

The sensation of movement, surprise, discovery and, significantly, expectation is evident

here. It was also significant that this landscape "between Hereford and Ross" repre-

sented the fitting 'prelude', hence the thematic, preparatory imagery of prosperity, abundance and stability as conveyed in the celebration of verdant meadows, fruitful orchards and 'richest pasture'.

The Great Western designated Ross-on-Wye, "The Gate of the Wye". I3 The imagery of gateways again offered with the sensation of movement; that of entry and exit, of moving from one area to another with all the attendant associations of demarcation, differentiation and hierarchical categorisation that constituted the ongoing sub-text.

'The Wye Valley', Vol II, offered an unequivocal statement of the superlative landscape of the Wye from Ross to Chepstow on almost every page. Having offered a short, historically-defined reference to Ross, the G.W.R. went on to intensify its 'gateway' imagery. Goodrich Castle was celebrated as an aesthetic experience every bit the equal of its historical impact; the one, in effect, informing the other. Both dimensions were celebrated in the G.W.R.'s acclamation that the site represented, "The Inner Gate of the

Wye". Thus, 'The Wye Valley'.I4

The castle as well as the neighbouring church, seem to guard as 55

sentinels the deep gorge at the entrance of which they stand . . . the

stream almost surrounds three sides of the ancient fortress which

reminds one forcibly of the far-famed castles of the Rhineland.15

Favourable comparisons of English landscape and architecture with European sites, evident here, enhanced the G.W.R.'s English cultural agenda of historical and aesthetic con- gruence. 'The Wye Valley' also identified Goodrich Castle as 'A Saxon Stronghold'.16

Looking to perceived cultural credentials, ethnic identification was proclaimed.

"Experts pronounce the windows of the river-front to be as Saxon as they can be." 17 The

G.W.R.'s own commissioned expert, however, thought otherwise. Charles Oman in

'Castles', G.W.R. 1926, declared the keep, the oldest part of the castle, to date from the time of Henry I and was, therefore, clearly Norman.18

Having entered the 'Inner Gate', the Great Western's survey then focused on what

it considered a definitive location for the entire Wye Valley: the experience of Symonds

Yat. Great Western literature in respect of Symonds Yat left no room for misrepresentation. It was a statement of total identity and celebration. 'The Wye Valley' included two particularly significant observations: one, proclaiming the pre-eminent status of

Symond's Yat in the hierarchy of aesthetic experience, and the other, recognising the role of the railway in directly contributing to creative perspective.

Symonds Yat may very well claim to be the most picturesque spot

in all England, and the gem of the inland scenery of the National

Holiday Line ... You are now in the very heart of the Wye Valley.19

From the perspective of the valley floor it was argued that, "full justice to the wonderful views can only be obtained from the railway. "20 A.G. Bradley's Rivers and Streams of

England, 1909, was enlisted by the G.W.R. for 'The Wye Valley', Vol II.

The railway with the help of tunnelling has broken through all

barriers, and for a long distance gives the passenger an admirable

passing view one cliff or the other. •2 56

The G.W.R.'s 'Rambles in the Wye Valley' 22 also informed visitors that the path to the summit at Yat Rock began from the northern end of the station platform. Maxwell

Fraser's contribution for 'Holiday Haunts' offered sublime proportions, setting the location into relationship with the surrounding landscape, near and far; from the panoramic heights to the intimacy of riverside detail. It was a powerfully-charged, emotional encounter with landscape, laden with the imagery of harmony and received resonances of an inheritance of fragile form, but vitally of ownership.

People come from all over the world to see Symonds Yat . . . Great

orchards, shady woods and fantastically shaped rocks alternate with

lush flower-decked pasture lands, tiny cottages of old-world beauty

and ancient, lichen-clad churches, backed by the shapely wall of the

Welsh Mountains, intensely blue with the magical haze of distance

to form the setting for the peerless River, which, as though reluctant

to leave such matchless loveliness, sweeps around in a magnificent

bend almost forming itself into a circle. Whether seen from the

summit of Symonds Yat Rock, or from the waterside, it is a view

to remember with joy as long as life lasts.23

Moving on to Monmouth the Great Western again celebrated the town's history and, in particular, historical and literary figures of recognised cultural resonance. It was the perspective of 'England Triumphant,' a definitively Great Western characterisation.

'The Wye Valley' set the larger rural context; 'Holiday Haunts' provided the historic literary heritage. Thus, 'The Wye Valley' declared of Monmouth:

It lies embowered among gentle hills, diversified by wood, corn

and pasture and rises from the river with considerable stateliness in

the form of an ampitheatre.24

'Holiday Haunts' built upon this with the historical dimension.

From the time a Norman castle replaced the ancient Saxon fortress 57

a constant succession of glittering personalities and notable events

has ever woven into the splendid fabric of the city's history. In this

tiny walled and moated medieval town, Geoffrey of Monmouth was

born to enrich the literature of the world by his fabulous histories.25

A litany of English cultural achievement followed in 'Holiday Haunts' with the literary

legacy of the 'hero' as bequeathed by Geoffrey, Shakespeare, Sir Thomas Malory and

Tennyson, but the survey culminated in the celebration of Monmouth's most famous son,

King Henry V. Great Western literature proclaimed him, "the most brilliant warrior in the history of our land, the one English king who never knew defeat." 26 Nelson was also linked with the town and, like the Town Gateway and Bridge, commemorating

Henry V, so also, Monmouth was host to what 'Holiday Haunts' described as "the finest collection [of Nelsonian relics] of its kind in the world." 27 Collectively, the Great

Western's presentation of Monmouth marked the sustained celebration of Englishness integrating rural imagery with the historical and literary record into dramatic experiential encounter by close reference to personage, place and event - an overall expression of cultural authority.

Southward from Monmouth, the Great Western literature focused upon Tintern, setting the location into an overall context of the larger Wye Valley and, beyond that, to an international dimension. The focus was primarily cultural, drawing on a powerful aesthetic and historical perspective as it had been generally throughout the course of the

Valley. But Tintern was perceived to be distinct, in as far as 'The Wye Valley' called it,

"the great architectural treasure, not only of the Wye Valley, but of the whole of the

Welsh Marches. There is nothing quite like Tintern in all England ... " 28 In wider-ranging reference, 'The Wye Valley' continued:

Can one wonder at the spell which glorious Tintern has exercised

over countless generations of travellers and poets? It must help very

materially to make the Wye Valley a travel shrine to every member 58

of the Anglo-Saxon race all over the world.29

'Holiday Haunts' sustained, indeed, intensified the magical element in the depiction of

Tintern and, in doing so, underlined the sense of privileged awareness; informed per-

ception. It was primarily an emotive, aesthetic perspective of encounter within the dis-

course of citizenship.

Tintern has such a sublime beauty that it is forever a thing apart in

the memory of all who have been there.30

Celebrating "the supreme fact of its overwhelming beauty." 31 'Holiday Haunts' went for heightened sensitivity, akin to the fragility definitive of Symonds Yat. The exclusive, initiate perspective, defining and differentiating "people with spiritual vision", was explicit.

But if Tintern is fair in the sunshine, there are no words to express

its strange and magic beauty in the silvery rays of the moon and

during the Harvest Moon period, this ethereal charm culminates in

a tradition which draws people from all over the world. The great,

Honey-coloured moon then shines through a particular window with

weird effect and people with spiritual vision can see the shades of

monks who once lived in the Abbey, stealing through the radiant

light.32

Below Tintern, the River Wye became tidal and the last great landmark was the town of Chepstow. The castle was acclaimed for its superlative situation and, likewise, the efforts of the community "to retain the atmosphere of the Middle Ages."33 Having offered the panoramic perspective over the course of the railway journey southward through the Wye Valley, 'Holiday Haunts' included one further notable example. This concerned the Wyndcliffe, 800 feet above the river at Chepstow. In the structured presentation of this dramatic landscape, as defined by the vantage point of the observer and their relationship to it, the G.W.R. provided a further expression of thematic integration; 59 that of harmonious relationship between landscape and people, a perspective discussed by David Matless as that of "outlook geography" and an expression of citizenship.

From the summit of the cliff, the varied beauties of the counties of

Gloucester, Somerset, Wilts, Devon, Glamorgan, Hereford, Mon-

mouth, Brecon and Worcester can be seen spread out like a vast

and exquisitely coloured contour map and threaded by the silvery

lines of the Wye, the Usk and the mighty Severn.34

The G.W.R.'s literature on the Wye Valley was in many respects an innovative exercise in literary representation, within the context of railway-based publications in

Britain. It exemplified the panoramic vision. It also included sustained representations of picturesque perspectives organised around a range of challenging angles of vision - a perceptual process which, like the principle of panoramic vision, shared the pursuit of dramatic, novel spectacle in landscape. This conceptual structure - of distance and proximity, and of high-line and low level projection delivered in the progress of the train - presented a heightened appreciation of landscape and, in the cultural agenda of the

G.W.R., sealed the relationship between historical process, its setting and its evaluation.

Tintern Abbey, or Goodrich Castle, within the carefully composed rural-historical environment that similarly contextualised the likes of Hereford and Monmouth, all served to reflect the G.W.R.'s appreciation of the need to deliver distinctive, dynamic literary perspectives of both open and subliminal cultural and political resonance. Thus, 'The Wye

Valley', in exemplifying these qualities, can be said to directly challenge any suggestion that G.W.R. literature was stylistically and thematically unadventurous, instinctively conservative in policy and practice and, in terms of its wider reference, no more than that of guide-book status.

Whilst the Great Western's chosen approach in the presentation of the Wye Valley was that of the panoramic perspective, its presentation of the Cotswolds, whilst thematically consistent, pursued a very different focus. In doing so, the company clearly 60

demonstrated its policy of differentiating and stylistically infusing its numerous region-

al and county locations with what were considered to be their distinctive aesthetic and

cultural characteristics. The G.W.R.'s literary perspective thus contrasted with, for

example, H.V. Morton, considered earlier, or that of Edward Thomas' celebration of

rural England: 'The South Country", 1909. Unlike the G.W.R.'s clearly differentiated

landscapes, Thomas declared:

In a sense this country is all 'carved out of the carver's brain' and

has not a name. .. As often as not I have no doubt mingled parts of

kent with my Wiltshire and so on.35

Comparing the Great Western's presentation of the Wye Valley with that of the

Cotswolds, the latter focused upon a landscape largely beyond railways, as was clear

from the company's article: 'The Unknown Cotswolds', 1935. 36 Far removed from

kaleidoscopic perspectives, this work pronounced:

Life in the Cotswolds is peaceful. Its quiet culture and harmonious

beauty can only be taken in long, slow draughts, and not gulped at

fifty miles an hour -- travel by rail to the fringe of the Cotswolds and

then go quietly through the peaceful lanes with no thought of any-

thing so soul-destroying as a mileage schedule.37

Similarly, the earlier 'Cotswolds Ways' declared:

If Campden should be invaded by the multitude, its charm and sanc-

tity would flee. Fortunately, its beauties cannot be seen by motoring

or rushing through it. It needs careful preparation and humble entry

on foot. There is no entertainment other than for modest visitors.38

This statement, unequivocal in its statement of citizenship, directly countered the motorist-led discovery of rural England, exemplified by H.V. Morton's "In Search Of" series and as represented in J.B. Priestley's 'English Journey', 1934 and his Introduction to 'The Beauty of Britain', 1935. 61

Cotswolds' Perspectives

The Great Western's literature on the Cotswolds -- 'Cotswolds Ways', 1924, 'The

Cotswold Country', 1936, detailed articles, as in 'The Unknown Cotswolds', G.W.R.

Magazine, 1934, and the extensive entries in 'Holiday Haunts', - indicated the signifi-

cance of this particular region for the projection of company imagery and cultural rep-

resentation. For Great Western purposes, the Cotswolds were definitive of rural England

as the organic community, quintessentially pastoral and rooted in aesthetic harmony and

historic continuity. This perspective, common to the G.W.R. literature and to topo-

graphical literature generally, incorporated a further characteristic dimension: that of an

intuitive, metaphysical property - a quasi-religious context of authentication embracing

an initiate context of communion and encounter, witness and identity. The literature and

the experience of the Cotswolds conformed to, and confirmed, the properties of pil-

grimage and received protocol of participation, as indicated in the earlier reference to

Chipping Campden - to 'special preparation' and 'humble entry on foot.'

The Cotswolds accommodated a broad agenda of variously defined socio-political,

aesthetic and cultural appropriations, as illustrated elsewhere in Patrick Wright's detailed

thematic focus, 'The Village That Died For England', his specific Dorsetshire study.39

Looking to the Cotswolds, it was evident that they accommodated perspectives as diverse as those of John Ruskin and William Morris40 - 'News from Nowhere' and the celebration of Medieval ideals delivered via the Arts and Crafts movement, likewise, the social, economic and political aspirations of professional society in the urban-orientated, celebration of rural Picturesque, through to those of Joseph Chamberlain and Lord

Rosebury enlisting rural England into the complex expression of imperial destiny. 4I The agenda likewise addressed various representations of 'Imperial Sunset' - the broad thematic spectrum of the retreat to rural values, be it the retrospective, elegaic, essentially rural perspective of Martin Weiner or of Colls and Dodd ('Englishness'), 42 or of the near eschatological cast of Correlli Barnet. 43 Likewise, the indeterminate climate of political, 62

economic and industrial affairs, both nationally and internationally and, not least, the

perceived threat of rapid urbanisation, were all reflected in rural-national representa-

tions. Furthermore, and in close correlation psychologically, as Paul Fussell, in 'The

Great War and Modern Memory',44 and, alternatively, Jay Winter's, 'Sites of Memory,

Sites of Mourning' 45 have shown, there was always the massive, inestimable legacy of

the Great War resonating at every level of experience. Winter's analysis of the concepts

of identity, memory and commemoration in both personal and communal contexts, have

particular significance. Memory and the subject - object orientation in relation to per-

son, place, experience, event and time was a repeated, thematic element of the Cotswold

literature, rarely overtly formulated, but an essential element within the mystically-

charged presentation. In the qualities of ancient peace, continuity and harmony

expressed through its aesthetic properties, the Cotswold landscape effectively embodied

commemoration and, definitively, cultural identity, celebrated, not least, in its demarca-

tory dimensions. Thus the thematic parallels with Winter's reference to the local-nation-

al-international designations and those of Anthony Smith's 'high' and 'low' cultural

identifications.

After August, 1914, commemoration was an act of citizenship. To

remember was to affirm community, to assert its moral character,

and to exclude from it those values, groups or individuals that placed

it under threat. This form of collective affirmation in wartime iden-

tified individuals and their families with the community at large

understood both in terms of a localised landscape and a broader and

a more vaguely defined national entity under siege or threat.46

Anglo-American perspectives, addressing a cultural-commercial spectrum of common identity and orientation reflected a further, related celebration of this Cotswold agenda.

(See Chapter Six) Rural England thus engaged the historical-political agenda of Greater

Britain and Empire and the industrial-commercial structure that sustained it. 63

Looking directly to the literary record, J.B. Priestley's cultural set-piece, his well known 'English Journey', J934,47 characterised the region as, "the most English and least spoiled of our countrysides."48 Priestley extolled the qualities of ancient peace and rural continuity, he wrote of one Cotswold valley as "looking as if it had decided to detach itself from the rest of England about the time of the Civil War."49 In lyrical tone he evoked a thematically fragile aesthetic, of special place,

The day was brilliant above but below there was a very faint haze

over everything, so that the hillsides and trees and walls had that

gauzy gleaming look which belongs to the unreality and enchant-

ment of the theatre."

As evidently far more than the listed iconography of field, farm, hamlet and church, this was the inspirational landscape of privileged, access and heritage.

Burford, as presented in the G.W.R.'s 'Unknown Cotswolds', was defined by similar, aesthetically focused and specifically structured perceptions. It thus took its allot- ted place in terms of the hierarchy of Englishness.

Burford must be included even if it does not come within the class

of the unknown. But it is one of these temperamental places that

must be approached with infinite tact. Firstly you must come to it

from the top end - it is a tragic waste to see it for the first time from

the bottom of the hill - and you will be entranced by the sheer magic

of the scene.51

The picturesque perception of stylised aesthetic etiquette was apparent here and was intensified in a specifically detailed reference thereafter.

Uneven rows of houses, many of them typical of the gabled grace of

the fifteenth century, flank the wide street with the noble church and

river bridge standing proudly at the foot of the hill. It is a tone pic-

ture of grey and brown, here and their brightened by a flash of red 64

or blue from a sign swinging outside a house or shop, the whole set

off by the broad green verge running down the hill. The magic of

Burford is most potent on a misty day for then the haze and the

pennons of gently rising smoke soften the scene into one of harmon-

ious loveliness. In any case, Burford cannot be overlooked if only

because of its church, which could provide an object lesson for

almost every page of British history since the Saxons.52

Englishness, here was expressed through the two-fold reference to aesthetic structuring

drawing on the received imagery of architecture and historic context and continuity, and

that of the mystical, sublime characterisation inherent in the diffuse rendering of colour,

texture and perspective, conferring such ethereal qualities, as in the presentation of

Killarney in Southern Ireland, for example.

Chipping Campden was a further and, for the G.W.R., the finest exemplar of the

Cotswold character. As with Burford there was the subtle blend of aesthetics and har-

mony. Maxwell Fraser's, 'The Cotswold Country', declared:

Nowhere can the Cotswold style of architecture, with its mullioned

windows, grey slate roofs weathered to mellowness, dormered gables

and graceful doorheads be seen to such perfection as at Chipping

Campden where no jarring note of modernity has been allowed to

mar the gracious beauty of the wide main street or the picturesque

grouping of the alms-houses and great gateway of the magnificent

church .53

Chipping Campden, in the Great Western literature, also embodied Maxwell

Fraser's favourite theme, as expressed in her earlier works, 'Southern Ireland', 1932 and

'Somerset', 1934: that of identifying locations of outstanding aesthetic appeal with the atmosphere of the haunts of ancient peace, resisting any and every expression of modernity. Thus, again, the primacy of aesthetic harmony and historic continuity. 65

Outwardly Chipping Campden shows but little sign of the three

hundred years and more since the majority of these lovely houses

were first built, for it lies in the fold of the hills, away from the main

roads. It has escaped the modern craze for change and has chosen

the better part of peaceful contentment and enduring beauty.54

Thereafter, Fraser detailed the fourteenth and fifteenth century architectural her-

itage of the town, making particular reference to the church.

The church is a magnificent example of Perpendicular work with

one of the loveliest of all noble Cotswold church towers and is well

worthy of the wealthy and important town it was designed to serve.55

Paradoxically, given the historical thrust explicit within this last extract, but thematically consistent in terms of Maxwell Fraser's specific cultural agenda, she went on to state:

Apart from the Civil War, history has passed by the town as com-

pletely as modern industrialism has done.56

In these two seemingly contradictory and, thus, problematic statements the Great

Western's appeal to aesthetic perceptions subsumed the historically-defined community.

Whilst appealing to the process and results of historical development e.g. the church and the community generally, as here in the case of Chipping Campden, the contemporary focus of Cotswold harmony and continuity suggested the fulfillment of a role as a cultural foil within the G.W.R.'s collective representations. The community was not presented in terms of the dynamics of the commercial, political, social and cultural context of development that shaped and defined the Cotswold wool trade of the later Medieval or Tudor periods, as this, in both explaining and contextualising the historical and, therefore, the relative nature of the community, would serve to weaken or undermine the complex cultural agenda that defined much, but not all, in the Great Western's Cotswold perspective. This would effectively compromise the perceptual basis of the rural identification and its lyrical, elusive, mystical properties, thereby threatening the process of 66 participatory encounter in a personal or collective sense. A focused historical analysis would, effectively, de-mythologise the Cotswold experience but, paradoxically, it was an historically-structured representation in that it was thematically congruent with the

G.W.R.'s collective cultural imagery. These representations of Chipping Campden alone, indicate the complex configuration of historical, aesthetic and implicit political identification that characterised the G.W.R.'s construction of Englishness.

The sense of cultural encounter within the Cotswold literature was reinforced stylistically in the company's consistent reference to value-enhanced adjectives fulfilling an evident normative function. Thus, "the noble church"; "graceful doorheads", "gracious beauty of the main street". Together with related reference to "dignified" and "stately" representations of regal provenance, there were also those celebrating homely, familiar continuity - "mellow, time-worn, weathered" with, of course, the obligatory reference to

"picturesque" and "ancient". Given this 'special' perspective, enhanced by the fact that the literature was devoted almost entirely to imagery and associations linked to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries - as was the case with the company's work on the

Severn Valley and much more elsewhere -it is clear that the Cotswold presentation exemplified the 'culturally-loaded' properties of rural England. It was a perspective of communion and confirmation, not one of critical analysis, but for the G.W.R. it was always directly related to the political and cultural considerations central to the company's

Anglo-American imagery. (See Chapter Six).

Reference to one further location, that of Broadway, allows us to broaden and sharpen the Cotswold focus. The Ward-Lock guide to the Cotswolds in the mid-fifties described Broadway as:

A pleasant place which has the misfortune to be popular, but which

is nevertheless a place to be seen and to be enjoyed.57

Exclusive perspectives confronted popularist dimensions at Broadway and the prospec-

tive tension therein was reflected in the Great Western's representation as in the following 67 statement from a promotionary work in the company magazine for May, 1934. Entitled,

'Half-Day Summer Holidays', 58 it was aimed at those, "who from lack of time, money and other considerations are prevented from enjoying the usual annual holiday." 59 But its specific theme in relation to the Cotswold agenda was of cultural focus: the celebration of Englishness, relative to the particular experience of the participant - and, therein, a statement of differentiation, but, crucially, of citizenship.

No-one who calls himself a true Englishman can ever tire of the

Cotswold country.6°

Broadway was served directly by the G.W.R.'s Birmingham-Cheltenham main line which consequently offered access to Cotswold communities in the vicinity of the line.

Prior to its opening in 1908, James Inglis, General Manager, G.W.R., helped popularise the region in an article, entitled, 'A Railway Through the Garden of England', published in the company magazine, in 1904 61 Thus Broadway, also situated on a main road route, represented something of a culturally perceived 'frontier'. The village had much to com- mend it in terms of aesthetic properties and historic associations, as was reflected in

'Cotswold Ways', 1924. The church was presented in terms of an experiential encounter with the past and, significantly, that of the American visitor whose reactions, in contrast with the assumed familiarity of English-based perceptions, would be more sharply focused. The thematic agenda of American-orientated circumstances of cultural appropriation, inheritance and accommodation is evident. Drawing on the perceived qualities of informed identification with the English cultural tradition, 'Cotswold Ways', quoting

Nathaniel Hawthorne, delivered an American perspective on past-present identification and the recurrent celebration of historic continuity. The imagery of the tree - of roots, branches, growth and longevity - had deep resonance in Anglo-American relations, and the properties of personal encounter and participation, generally, are evident.

But while you are still new in the old country, it thrills you with a

strange emotion to think that this little church . . . humble as it seems, 68

stood for ages under the Catholic faith, and has not materially changed

since Wycliffe's days, and that it looked as grey as now in Bloody

Mary's time, and that Cromwell's troopers broke off the stone noses

of those same gargoyles that are now grinning in your face. So, too,

with the immemorial yew tree: you see its great roots grasping hold

of the earth like gigantic claws clinging so sturdily that no effort of

time can wrench them away; and there being life in the old tree, you

feel all the more as if a contemporary witness were telling you of

things that have been.62

Broadway also presented a somewhat different perspective on the theme of identi-

ty addressing a revised definition of exclusivity and continuity. 'The Cotswold Country'

proclaimed:

• . . no other Cotswold village can point to so many wealthy and

celebrated people as owners of its time-worn gabled houses . . .

these comparative newcomers have used their wealth to restore

the ancient houses with care and discretion and they are to be con-

gratulated accordingly upon the work they have done to maintain

the old-world beauty of Broadway.63

The reference here to the maintenance of old-world beauty in restoration work by the

wealthy and "celebrated" engaged the perspectives of urban-rural fusion, Raymond

Williams' identification of "a rural mode developed as a cultural superstructure on the profits of industrial and imperial development." 64 In this, as in the related context of

Anglo-American interests and the shifting perspectives of Empire, the G.W.R.'s presentation of the Cotswolds informed the distinctive, interactive agenda of national and inter-

national affairs and that of fundamental relationships between past and present; continu-

ity and change. Furthermore, and as thematically consistent with the G.W.R.'s perspectives, the Introduction to the Ward Lock Guide, 'The Cotswolds', 65 offers a fitting 69 summative statement. In terms of time, early post-World War Two, place and event, the writing reflected a powerful expression of the interaction of past and present and the wider national and international context within which the cultural identity of the

Cotswolds and their celebrated qualities of inspiration, harmony and continuity were substantiated. In the tradition and style of the Great Western's literary work, this was an unreserved and potent affirmation of Englishness.

There is no kindlier country in Britain than the Cotswolds. It is sig-

nificant that, during the period before the war when peace and har-

mony were increasingly needed and increasingly difficult of attain-

ment, the district became more widely known. Now that peace has

been hard-won we may seek harmony with lighter heart, and it is

here our search ends, for harmony is, in fact, the very keynote of

the Cotswolds. Hills roll on to hill, valley succeeds valley, with

effortless undulation: even the bold edges of the western boundary

have an air of playful boast as though demonstrating to their moun-

tainous neighbours of Wales that a sense of height and wide outlook

need not be a matter of grim, bar rocks. And in no part of Britain is

there such an absence of discord.66

The Cotswold imagery definitive of historical tradition and rural-aesthetic perspectives embodied the received expressions of essential Englishness. But the foregoing analysis has also attempted to contextualise this evident cultural characterisation within the much wider reference of imperial and international proportions. One final reference to this theme can again affirm the sense of the integral nature of Englishness.

'Cotswold Ways', in company with all such literature on that district, celebrated the symbolism associated with the source of the River Thames, despite the rival claims of

Seven Springs and Thamesmead to that distinction. This G.W.R. publication tapped an historic, literary tradition that set the Seven Springs location near Cheltenham into the 70 expansive political, cultural and, indeed, imperial context of national identity. Drawing on John Taylor's seventeenth century narrative of the rivers Thames and Isis.67

'Cotswold Ways' suggested that Taylor's work could well provide a fitting thematic model within which its now narrative might be set. 68 From its source, deep in Cotswold country, the Thames, fed by its tributaries, flowed eastward through rural England, through Oxford, Windsor and London and thereafter to the sea and the world beyond.

Taylor represented the Thames thematically in terms of a stately procession but, significantly, one of growth and power - commercial, political and cultural. The river thus embraced rural, literary, regal, metropolitan and imperial-international definitions: a comprehensive construction.

As with the Great Western's 'Through the Window' series, wherein all locations, landscapes and representations were defined in relation to one-another and, significantly, to Paddington as the focal centre, so Taylor's 'Thames and Isis' united or reconciled all seemingly disparate cultural characterisations. The perspective was evident, indeed, explicit in the company's work, 'The Glories of the Thames', 1923.69

There is, too, much for the mind to ponder over in following the pere-

grinations of the silvery stream. From its very source to its mouth

the Thames is inextricably linked with British history.70

Thereafter, the account drew upon ideals of harmony and thematic continuity linking

Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon Dorchester, ecclesiastical and literary Oxford,

Windsor and Runnymeade with London - the Pool and Great Metropolis. As with the

literature on the Severn and Wye Valleys, the intention was to present a detailed cultur-

al statement constructed according to clearly defined historiographical principles. Thus,

again, the Cotswold presentation can be seen to have fulfilled a significant role in the

overall formulation of English imagery and identity as mediated through the sustained

expression of integration and harmony. 7 1

References

Chapter Three

The Wye Valley and The Cotswolds

1/ Anthony D. Smith. The Ethnic Origins of Nations. Blackwell, Oxford 1986. P185

2/ Ibid P185

3/ Wolfgang Schivelbusch. The Railway Journey, Berg Publishing, Leamington, Hamburg, New York. 1977. P64

4/ Ibid P60

5/ A.M. Broadley. Historic Sites and Scenes of England, G.W.R., 1904, 1924 ed, P57.

5/ G.W.R. Wye Valley, Vol Two, 1924. P5

7/ G.W.R. Wye Valley, Vol One, 1924, P3

8/ A.G. Bradley. The Rivers and Streams Of England. A and C Black. London. 1909 The G.W.R. drew substantially in theme and style from Bradley. See, particularly, pps 193-196 and Bradley's total identification with "the poetry of rapid motion through rural England [and] the corner-seat of a railway carriage." P194

9/ A.M. Broadley. North Wales. The British Tyrol, G.W.R. (1904) 1924 ed. P86

10/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1937 P950

11/ Ibid P950

12/ G.W.R. Wye Valley, Vol Two. P13

13/ Ibid P14

14/ Ibid P16

15/ Ibid P16

16/ Ibid P16

17/ Ibid P16. The geo-political significance of the Welsh Marches contextualised in the thrust of G.W.R. English hegemony has resonance here. 72

18/ Charles Osman. Castles, G.W.R., 1926. P149

19/ G.W.R. Wye Valley, Vol 2. P17

20/ Ibid P17

21/ Ibid P17

22/ Hugh E. Page. Rambles And Walking Tours In The Wye Valley, G.W.R. 1938. Re-printed British Railways, 1951, Ramble No. 5. P40

23/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1936. P949

24/ G.W.R. Wye Valley, Vol Two. P19

25/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1936. P853

26/ Ibid P853

27/ Ibid P853

28/ G.W.R. The Wye Valley, Vol Two. P25

29/ Ibid P26

30/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1936. P854

31/ Ibid P854

32/ Ibid P854

33/ Ibid P851

34/ David Matless. Landscape and Englishness PPs 73-79. Holiday Haunts 1936 P852

35/ Edwards Thomas. The South Country, Hutchinson, London. 1909 Re-print 1984. P11

36/ E.C. Richens. The Unknown Cotswolds, G.W.R. Magazine, May 1935

37/ Ibid P365

38/ TVM'. Cotswold Ways, G.W.R. and Simkin Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, 1924. P23. See also P19, same volume - "The old church at Oddington"; its silence and "its quiet communion with the dead" ... Where those who "burst upon it unexpectedly stand fettered by the sudden spell." 73

39/ Patrick Wright. The Village That Died For England, Vintage, London. 1996. In analysing the perspectives of rural-historical tradition which Wright considers here in the substance and symbolism of the Dorset village of Tyneham, there is the fundamental rejection of the latterday heritage movement. Likewise, earlier constructions - Arthur Bryant, Stanley Baldwin and topographical-cultural writers such as H.J. Massingham - variously represent atrophy and the distinctly hierarchical, exclusive appreciation defining the cultural ownership of the past. Wright specifically quotes Arthur Bryant and his 'English Saga', 1940, as indicative of the perspective of timeless values which here and, specifically, elsewhere, in 'On Living In An Old Country', Verso, 1985, he (Wright) denigrates as "timeless when it has been frozen solid, closed down and limited to what can be exhibited as a fully accomplished 'historical past' which demands only appreciation and protection." 'On Living In An Old Country,' P78. Elsewhere in this volume, Deep England is presented as "an indivisible heritage - a kind of sacrament", P83, and of demonstrating "a narcissism that underpins and resonates at the heart of an innermost being that also happens to be secretly shared by others of the same formation." On Living Old Country. P86

40/ John Ruskin, 'Inaugural Lecture' (1870), The Works of John Ruskin, Vol XX. E.T. Cook and Alexander Weddenburg, George Allen, London, 1905. PP41-43. Ruskin correlated the imagery and substance of "a sceptred isle, source of light" and centre of peace with that of "a destiny - the highest ever set before a nation" . . . [a nation] "rich in an inheritance of honour bequeathed to us through a thousand years of noble history . . ." This was clearly an inspirational fore- runner of the G.W.R.'s dialectical construction of the cultural properties of Cotswold Deep England with those of wider industrial, commercial and imperial perspectives. The context of mission and authority was a shared feature. William Morris: News from Nowhere, 1890, Penguin Classics edition, 1993. Morris was a dedicated disciple of Ruskin and in the celebration of Medieval society - the pastoral setting and artisan culture of the organic society - The Arts and Crafts Movement looked to an idealised pastoral England which, in its Cotswold context, was identified and celebrated in the G.W.R.'s 'Cotswold Ways' - See P41

41/ M.G. Jessett. F.R.G.S. The Bond Of Empire, Sampson Low Marston, London, 1902.

42/ R. Coils and P. Dodd ed, Englishness. Politics and Culture 1880-1920, Croom Holm. 1986. See particularly Jeremy Crump PP 164-186 'The Identity of English Music'. The Reception Of Elgar 1898-1935. - "The changing reception of Elgar illustrates a major shift in ideas of Englishness between the wars, from assertive if insecure imperial pride to introspection and retreat". Drawing on perspectives of 74

sunset splendour, rural retreat and those of "a decent prosperous and, above all, rural, English past", Crump engages Weiner's anti- industrial thesis.

43/ See, for example, Correlli Barnet, 'The Collapse Of British Power'. Methuen, London, 1972. Alan Sutton, Stroud, 1984, or 'The Audit Of War', The Illusion and Reality of Britain as a 'Great Nation', Macmillan, London. 1986.

44/ Paul Fussell. The Great War and Modern Memory, Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1975.

45/ Jay Winter. Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning. The Great War in European Cultural History, Canto, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1995.

46/ Ibid P80. See also ref 51 for thematic impact. Also Anthony Smith, History, Modernity and Nationalism in Representing The Nation: A Reader. Ed David Boswell and Jessica Evans, Routledge, London. 1999 PPs 45-60

47/ J.B. Priestley. English Journey, Heinemann, London. 1934. Penguin ed, London. 1977.

48/ Ibid P50

49/ Ibid P60

50/ Ibid P60

51/ Unknown Cotswolds, G.W.R. Magazine, 1935, P268. Burford's war memorial, 1914-18, dominated the photographs of the town taken from this position during the inter-war era, thus adding thematic impact here.

52/ Ibid P268

53/ Cotswold Country P48

54/ Ibid P48. See Fraser's 'Somerset' G.W.R. for almost identical thematic reference and imagery, particularly her portrayal of Wells - 'Somerset', P80-85. Also 'Holiday Haunts', 1934, P613 - "Wells sheltered from the world by green hills, breathes the very spirit of Pre- Reformation days".

55/ Ibid P498

56/ Ibid P50 75

57/ Ward-Lock Guide. The Cotswolds, 1950, London. P2

58/ G.W.R. Half-Day Summer Holidays, G.W.R. Magazine, May, 1934

59/ Ibid P229

60/ Ibid P229

61/ James Inglis. G.W.R. Magazine, October, 1904. PP167/170

62/ Cotswold Ways. P30

63/ Cotswold Country. P51

64/ Raymond Williams. The Country and the City, 1973. Hogarth, London. 1993 P282

65/ Ward-Lock Guide. The Cotswolds, 1950

66/ Ibid P9

67/ Ed John Chandler. Travels Through Stuart Britain. The Adventures of John Taylor. The Water Poet, Sutton, Stroud, 1999 P129. From John Taylor, Description of the two famous rivers of Thames and Isis, John Haviland, London. 1632.

68/ FVM. Cotswold Ways, 1924, P41

69/ G.W.R. The Glories of the Thames. From Letchlade To Kingston. 1923.

70/ Ibid P2 76

CHAPTER FOUR The Celtic Sublime

The G.W.R.'s construction of Anglo-Saxon, English identification, revealed in its

political, historical and aesthetic characterisations as the cultural landscape of

Englishness and authority, was reinforced by reference to the company's 'Celtic' repre-

sentation. Similarly constructed in terms of the thematic structure of landscape, people

and event, indicated earlier, the Celtic characterisation, however, fulfilled a contrapuntal

role to English-orientated perspectives.

Despite close and widely-ranging commercial and industrial associations with

Cornwall, Wales, Southern Ireland and Brittany, their apparent, perceived Celtic quali-

ties were formulated in terms of cultural difference and sense of otherness and were thus

defined by their contrasts with Englishness, therein signalling, in content and style, the dominant properties of the latter. In short, the projected Celtic imagery corresponded in

its various forms to a prescriptive, fundamentally metropolitan agenda. Summarising the Celtic experience, as presented in the G.W.R.'s concept of creative encounter, the role of landscape, mood and a broad consensus of appropriate attitudes and identification carried far more impact than any academically-referenced ethnology or socio-polit-

ical analysis addressing verifiable notions of origin and development of cultural differentiation or, indeed, assimilation. As Stuart Piggott observes in terms of the popular perception of the Druids:

The Druids have in fact achieved a place in the average Englishman's

mind as part of his heritage, set with Magna Carta, or Cavaliers and

Roundheads in a misty perspective where Hampton Court, Stonehenge

or Chatsworth can act as a back-cloth as required)

David Brett's study of Irish dimensions of the modern Celtic cultural heritage, 'The 77

Construction of Heritage', 2 1996, examines the role of language and imagery in the literary/visual stylistic conventions characterising the Celtic identity, which he contextualises within a subordinate geo-political and cultural register. Brett argues that the categories of the 'sublime' and the 'picturesque' - fundamental stylistic features of G.W.R. work - aestheticised historical experience and, in the case of Celtic inspired identifications, gave rise to an "ahistorical national heritage," 3 wherein cultural authority was identified elsewhere: the eastern and western metaphors. Brett draws on Irish and

Scottish sources for his particular purposes, but the Great Western Railway's literature of the inter-war era on Southern Ireland itself and on Cornwall, Wales or Brittany, has equal validity, given the determinedly uniform imagery and representational associations employed. With reference to 'Centre' and 'Periphery', in the context of political, economic and cultural hegemony, we read:

The process whereby a region or country is aestheticised is not of

course, an innocent process; it implies that the power of designation

has passed from one nexus of command to another. The relationship

between the tourist and the toured is always based on what Edward

Said has called "an uneven exchange." Typically, a peripheral area

or country is designated as picturesque or sublime by visitors from

a metropolitan 'centre' to whom the local inhabitants are economic-

ally and politically sub-ordinate; the locals then take on, with greater

or lesser degrees of complicity, aspects of the roles assigned them in

order to profit from visitors.4

It is also evident that, in the G.W.R.'s representative agenda of ethnicity in the

Anglo-Saxon and Celtic identifications, as revealed in its literary style and thematic focus, the Saxon, English characterisation prevailed in incontestably 'Celtic' (Iron and

Bronze Age, Romano-British) sites of immense cultural resonance. Where the location presented a rival identification, as, for example, the Berkshire and Wiltshire Downs, the 78

White Horse of Uffington, Avebury, the Dorset Downs and, as the historical identification of Glastonbury within Saxon documentation reflects, the company's consistent theme of directing attention to Anglo-Saxon credentials applied.

The G.W.R.'s presentation of Wales, beyond, that is, the heavily industrialised coastal strip of South Wales, was decisively that of romantic spectacle. 'Cardigan Bay

Resorts', 1925 set the style for Ossian-inspired adventure; differentiating the observer and the observed.

With all this glamour of history, song, sea, wild romantic scenery,

of cromlech, castle cray and Ilyn, there is all that we moderns dem-

and for either recreation or residence.5

'Through The Window. Paddington To Birkenhead', 1925 drew an even more explicit distinction underlining English cultural authority. Subtitled, 'The Welsh Marches', this section of the book included the company's perspective on King Edward I and the conquest of Wales in the thirteenth century. There was also, perhaps, a certain parallel, contemporary resonance for the G.W.R. in terms of its recent acquisition of the extensive

Cambrian Railway, through the company Groupings, in the Railway Act of 1921.6

The rugged landscape with its natural fortresses and vantage points,

sheltering valleys and excellent possibilities for ambushing tactics,

helps imagination to conjure up a vivid picture of the long and bitter

struggle between a valiant, turbulent and almost unconquerable race

with its home in the mountains and the greater nation advancing

across the eastern lowlands to force upon its troublesome neighbour

a measure of subjection which time has happily turned into a bond

of union. Here is stage worthy of the drama played out upon it -

but we may think of King Edward the First of England as some-

thing much better than a stage hero. He was every inch a statesman

who saw through conflict to the ultimate good.7 79

Structurally, the passage was organised around contrasts - England; eastern lowlands, civilisation and progressive order; Wales, that of western wild freedom; of romantically-perceived mountain people committed to a tribal, warrior culture, ultimately doomed to extinction. The great Edwardian castles that ringed Wales which were later so enthusiastically celebrated in G.W.R. promotional literature - 'The Country of Castles' - were powerful symbols of English military, economic and cultural supremacy.

Hugh Kearney, in his recent work, 'The British Isles', 8 has drawn attention to the political dimension with regard to perceptions of Norman castles, cathedrals, abbeys and towns. Collectively, they embodied the clearest statement of power and authority in the context of their own society.

In all parts of the British Isles, the instruments of empire, were the

castle, the Church and the borough.9

It is not altogether fanciful, therefore, to suggest that, in the specific G.W.R. presentation of its three prestigious publications - 'Cathedrals' published in 1924, 'Abbeys' in 1925 and 'Castles' in 1926 - that there was a degree of historical association and correlated political perception. Although each of these works covered extensive historical, architectural and aesthetic features in great detail, their symbolic, political significance, within the Medieval society that established them, and also for the Great Western Railway that identified with all their historic imagery, would be difficult to dismiss.

Finally, and with reference again to Wales, Pembrokeshire, promoted as an attractive holiday prospect, was also of historic and political significance in line with the argument set out here. This important Welsh county offered abundant evidence of the powerful political triumvirate of castle, Church and borough and, in its identification as

'Little England Beyond Wales', 10 underlined the inherent English supremacy. Indeed, as Kearney also reminds us:

To live in a town during the Norman period was a sign of belonging

to an English colony. The Welsh were in fact excluded from them.11 80

Pembroke Castle, St. David's Cathedral, with its ruins of the Bishop's Palace, formerly protected by sturdy walls and gated entrance and the walled town of Pembroke itself and of nearby Tenby, underlined English authority and differentiation. 'Holiday Haunts' included a specific reference to this within its geo-cultural context of 'Little England

Beyond Wales'.

This Anglo-Flemish settlement, cut off from the homeland by hostile

neighbours, clung tenaciously to the speech and customs of their

ancestors and, though the enmity between this colony and their Welsh

neighbours has long since died out, the contrast between the peoples

of North and South Pembrokeshire is as clearly defined today, as

ever) 2

The commonly accepted designation, 'Little England Beyond Wales' was in itself a statement of cultural demarcation. Pembrokeshire and 'Little England' was given considerable coverage in terms of the overall account of Wales in Maxwell Fraser's work.

'England and Why', a joint G.W.R. and Southern Railway publication, 1932, 13 aimed at the North American market in tourism. The Cornish Riviera

Cornwall was projected as a unique possession of the G.W.R. for its mild, equable climate and medicinal properties, its location and, crucially, for its Celtic cultural identity.

The essential focus and thrust of the literature as delivered in its confident, committee style, was with the attempt to portray the profound sense of difference, culturally and geographically, of the Cornish experience. Exotic imagery and dramatic associations were plentiful, as the following examples reveal. Celebrating the "Mysterious Gift of the Gulf Stream", 'Sunny Cornwall. England's Mediterranean Region', 1924, announced: "Herodotus said Egypt was "the gift of the Nile." The equable, gentle, comfortable climate of the Cornish Riviera as the gift of the Gulf Stream.14

Twenty years earlier, 'The Cornish Riviera' offered incentives to 'the pilgrim to 81

Penzance:' declaring that, when he or she walked in the Morrab Gardens, its wealth of sub-tropical vegetation , the envy of Nice or Monte-Carlo, they might easily think themselves to be in Algiers. Similar, exclusive imagery applied to St. Ives, where "Gulf

Stream and West Indian associations" I5 were offered.

'The Scenery Attractions and Historical Associations of the Cornish Riviera', 1913, was explicit as to special identity, which engaged both Mediterranean properties and extensive Ossian perspectives.

The Cornish Riviera possesses all the climate advantages once con-

sidered the attribute of Madeira, Southern France and Italy, Algeria

and still more distant Delta of the Nile, while the 'Delectable Duchy'

generally has been more than once described as "the playground par

excellence of the British Empire." The beauty and variety of its

scenery are as remarkable as the richness of its historical associa-

tions, which go back to times even more remote than those in which

the Pheonicians came from Carthage to Cornwall in quest of tin.

Cornwall is not only celebrated for the picturesqueness of its inden-

ted coastline and rugged beauty of its rocks, cliffs and uplands, but

at every turn the traveller finds himself face to face with venerable

cairns and cromlechs, with ancient wells and moss-grown crosses

and with churches and other buildings, the origin of which is often

shrouded in mystery. It is in Cornwall only that the memorials of

our Celtic ancestors can be satisfactorily explored and the recent

development of railway travel carried out by the 'Holiday Line of

England' enables holiday-makers to do in a few days or hours more

than could formerly be accomplished in weeks or even months.16

Cultural and commercial interests worked in tandem here as indicated through the decisive alignment and identification of Celtic Cornwall with the Great Western's provision 82 of the very latest engineering excellence. With its distinct cultural heritage and the exclusive service offered by 'The Cornish Riviera Express', it was impressed upon the traveller that, "With the Cornish Riviera practically at our doors, the necessity for cost- ly and fatiguing foreign travel exists no longer.17

'The Homeland Handbook' for West Cornwall also conveyed the exclusive, initiate theme as in the context of the unique Celtic character celebrated by the G.W.R. In referring initially to the development of universal travel, the substance and focus of the writing thereafter was that of the long-term threat of mass tourism and its superficial or, as implied, its psuedo-sophisticated character overwhelming the more subtle and culturally-authoritative appreciation of informed initiates - those of requisite sensitivity, attuned, historically and aesthetically, in expectation and protocol.

In these days of universal travel, thousands of people visit the "Del-

ectable Duchy' every year. They climb the Cheesewring, picnic

amongst the ruins of Tintagel's hoary keep, explore the sylvan

beauties of the Fal and stand on Old Bolerian (West Penwith) and

strain their eyes to catch a glimpse of the long, low, uneven silhou-

ette of the Scillies. Then when their holidays are over, they go home

to tell their friends of a land of vivid colouring and rocky grandeur.

They speak enthusiastically of palm trees and geraniums, twenty feet

high, of fuschias that grow like large shrubs, of wild asparagus and

other vegetarian wonders. They compare with a sneer the pea-green

water of the English Channel to the sapphire rollers of the Atlantic

and assert that, after the pinnacled headlands of the west, the chalk

cliffs of the south coast look like neatly cut white cheese.18

So far, so good: Cornwall was manifestly different:

But now many of these people know the real uniqueness of Corn-

wall? Very few. For this land of primeval solitudes and prehistoric 83

monuments is not to be discovered in a few weeks of sight-seeing.

Its true spirit does not reveal itself on the sea-fronts of its watering

places or in the show spots of the guide books.

In order to know Cornwall, it is necessary to leave the beaten tracks

and follow the less trodden paths of her moors and cliffs to trace the

little moorland streams from source to sea, to discover those quaint

grey villages that nestle in the hollow of hills and to make the

acquaintance of warm-hearted, quick-witted Celtic inhabitants. To

this day, England may be said to terminate on the shores of the Tamar.

Beyond this river is a land of legend and mystery, eloquent silence

and Homeric storms ...19

'Holiday Haunts' echoed this theme in its material on Land's End:

Thousands of people visit Land's End every year and stand upon the

wave-beaten cliffs looking across the great expanse of ocean now

tossing above the lost land of Lyonesse to the distant Scilly Islands.

The majority of these visitors pay a flying visit to the Logan Rock

and then return with the comfortable reflection that they have "done"

Land's End. They have no conception of the real glory of Land's

End.20

As with all the Great Western's writers and the range of 'Homeland Handbooks', for example, the style was that of an invitation to indulge in an encounter with special landscape and atmosphere. As Maxwell Fraser put it, choosing her words carefully to convey such emotionally charged experiences, it was; "bewitchingly lovely. " 21 The classic location of St. Michael's Mount fulfilled all the criteria; legendary site, ancient port, monastery and fortress. It occupied a special place in G.W.R. literature and was the subject of several posters. Mais called it "one of the Seven Wonders of England," 22 and wrote enthusiastically of it in "The Cornish Riviera", presenting it in the dramatic, 84 romantic form of contrasting manner and mood.

From far and near in whatever weather, at whatever time of day, St.

Michael's Mount stands out as one of the Seven Wonders of England,

mysterious, exquisitely beautiful, a citadel or romance on which to

base the castle of dreams. I had myself, the great good fortune to

see it first at midnight under a harvest moon with the lights in its

high walls flashing over the sea. I have seen it emerge above a sea-

mist like a magic place on the clouds. I have seen it with the storms

beating great waves against its granite sides and I have seen it shim-

mering in the noon-day heat of a perfect midsummer day. Each

time it has seemed beyond compare, the most exquisite gem of all

England's homes.23

'Beautiful Brittany', 1909 had celebrated Mont Saint-Michel along similar lines, whilst G.W.R. poster work offered close physical comparisons between the two sites.

Overall, Cornish and Breton landscapes and cultural traditions bore close resemblances, thus the iconography and thematic structure of literature, legend and art work reflected shared perspectives, best expressed in the celebrations of their antiquities, dramatic coastal cliff-scapes and the numerous fishing communities.24

St. Michael's Mount provided a classic example of a famous and extremely popular location that leant itself to various presentational forms. The full reference to the site from S.P.B. Mais reflected two literary techniques; that of the carefully composed aesthetic perspective demanded within this dramatic agenda and the equally required historic and mythical recital, intended to lead one back from the present day through the accumulated screens of historical time and event to remote and romantic ancient times of heroic myth. 25 Alain Corbin, 'The Lure of the Sea', 1994, describes this perspective in the context of Mont Saint Michel, tracing this sensibility and expression back to the eighteenth century. Just as in Mais' historical chronicle, Corbin writes of Mont Saint 85

Michel:

The growing prestige of Mont Saint Michel was due to the ease with

which the travellers there could imagine the many filters standing

between the Druids and the industrial age.26

This concept of experimental encounter, beloved of the G.W.R., resonated various lev-

els of appreciation. David Lowenthal, in 'The Past is a Foreign Country', argues that

artefacts and special places enabled the celebrant to participate in both the past and the

present. As Lowenthal observes, "Because artefacts are at once, past and present, their

historical and modern roles interact." 27 Whilst existing in the present they are vital agen- cies in terms of access to the past. Moreover, a close focus on place and artefact also has

the effect of enhancing the literary element and, ultimately, the overall experience. "The

historian who sees for himself the locale of his work heightens its impact for his audience."28

This approach to the past sees historical experience as a much more complex process than that of direct textual study alone. Raphael Samuel's 'Theatres of

Memory',29 although developed in the context of the contemporary 'heritage' debate, has some distinct points of contact with the G.W.R.'s overall presentation:

There is no reason to think that people are more passive when look-

ing at old photographs or film footage or handling a souvenir, than

when reading a book. People do not simply 'consume' images in the

way in which, say, they buy a bar of chocolate. As in reading, they

assimilate them as best they can to pre-existing images and narra-

tives. The pleasures of the gaze are different in kind from those of

the written word but not necessarily less taxing on historical reflec-

tions and thought.30

But literature was a vital dimension for, as Lowenthal argued, the fullest expression came in combined form: 86

Memory, history and relics offer routes to the past best traversed in

combination. Each route required the others for the journey to be

significant and credible. Relics trigger recollection which history

affirms and extends backward in time. History in isolation is barren

and lifeless; relics mean only what history and memory convey.3I

It was this combination of literature and the sense of personal encounter with special place, event and historical reference that characterised the context and style of the Great

Western Railway's literary work. The emphasis upon the rich historical traditions and the quality and diversity of the aesthetic experience was evident throughout its entire body of literature.

The company's overall presentation of Cornwall and its particular cultural perspective was also influenced by the art work of the late nineteenth-century 'Newlyn School' of painters, best known in the canvases of its founder Stanhope-Forbes. 32 In pre-dating the G.W.R.'s earliest promotional literature on Cornwall and shaping a specific perception of the Cornish landscape and culture, the work of the Newlyn School of painters was a valuable source for ideas and imagery. Active during the later years of the last century and the early part of the twentieth, the 'Newlyn School' concerned itself with various subjects and themes popular at the time, which were to become central to the G.W.R.'s cultural construction of the county. This was particularly so with regard to poster production where the imagery of the fishing communities was widely adopted.

The Newlyn School focused upon the fishing communities, centering upon Newlyn

and the rural landscape of the West Penwith, notably the Lamorna district. Forbes' work,

significantly, exhibited at the Royal Academy, celebrated the working environment and

the people and culture of the fishing communities. There was also interest in Cornish

folklore and mythology as popularised at the time by Robert Hunt in his anthology,

'Popular Romances of the West Country'. 33 but the essential focus was the community

in the local landscape. The overall impression was one of a sense of order, of continuity 87 and harmony underlining a strong sense of identity and purpose within the community.

The paintings reflected a strong representational, if romanticised, style in the depiction of simple, dignified working people, a popular theme in literature and painting at that time. Forbes wrote of Newlyn in 1900;

every corner was a picture, and more important from the point of

view of the figure painter, the people seemed to fall naturally into

place and harmonise with the surroundings.34

In offering up vivid images of landscape and people, the Newlyn School caught the imagination of large numbers of people, thereby helping to shape the perception of the area as one of infinite charm and romantic appeal. Great Western promotional work in poster form and in the literature drew upon this in its portrayal of Cornwall, yet again, reinforcing the sense of special place and people. A decisive factor here in terms of perception and identity, however, was the fact that both the G.W.R. and the Newlyn School

of Painters were evidently outside interests coming into Cornwall, with direct interests

and affiliations elsewhere i.e. Paddington and The Royal Academy of Art. Thus, their

relationship with Cornwall represents the country/city dialectic in a further manifesta-

tion. Corbin's 'The Lure of the Sea', offers useful perspective with reference to the pre-

sentation of people and place in literature and artwork devoted to apparent simple yet

'noble' Celtic seaboard communities. The context of privileged perception is evident;

likewise, the definitive demarcation within the process of encounter.

The idyllic representation of the shore-dwelling peoples played a

function in the social portrait drawn by those who transformed them

into a spectacle. The crowd of fishermen on foot and the small-time

fishermen - less frightening than the sailors' world - offered an image

of good folk. Gatherers on the shores were not affected by social

mobility, which had not yet made its way into their midst. These

workers of the shore, toughened by contact with the elements, 88

reasonably hopeful of enjoying their lives, made fertile by their diet

of fish, attached to the religion by regular recourse to its consolation,

were reassuring to city-dwellers who felt the contestation of social

hierarchy rising in their midst. The sailors' piety and the solid faith

found in these coastal parishes, in which the seafarers' families were

united with the 'shore community' through empathy, were in keep-

ing with this serene interpretation. Age-old stereotypes reinforced

this idyllic perception which stimulated both the tourists longing

for the shore and the pleasure they found there ... The delight pro-

cured by this spectacle was all the more freely enjoyed since there

was no need to fear in this setting that the social distance would be

removed.35

Even the most cursory glance at G.W.R. presentations of Cornish fishing villages -

Sennen, Mousehole, St. Ives, Looe, Polperro, Mevagissey, for example - thoroughly endorses Corbin's analysis. The G.W.R. Magazine, June 1938, 'A Picturesque Cornish

Fish Market', for example, describes the summer morning market in the context of a tourist spectacle.36 Sennen, in the far west, also offered the multiple features of history, aesthetics and seaside amusement that, for Mais, reflected the many dimensions of a

Cornish Holiday. His observation, here, indicated the concept of qualitative levels of sensibility and perception and cumulative levels of historical time and experience.

Here, where children now build sandcastles, artists set up their easels

and all the world bathes, Athelstan once landed after his conquest of

the Scillies and later, Perkin Warbeck in 1497.37

Hayle, on Cornwall's north coast, was presented in similar style. 'Holiday Haunts' set out the various perspectives: ancient lineage, legend, leisure and aesthetic appreciation - the context of encounter.

As early as the fifth century Hayle was a flourishing town which 89

served as a centre for the missionaries sent from Irish monasteries to

convert the Cornish. Today it serves equally well as a centre for a

far different purpose - holiday making. It is almost the only stretch

of coast in Cornwall where precipitous granite cliffs give way to

an expanse of breezy towans. These undulating sand dunes stretch

westward to St. Ives and eastward to Godrevy Point in a great semi-

circle only broken by the Hayle estuary and are a delightful play-

ground for bathing, picnicking and camping. Although Hayle has

no ancient buildings, the whole district abounds in historic associ-

ations and fascinating legends.38

This particular reference has further interest, however, not only for what it revealed, but also for what it specifically ignored. Hayle, in the eighteenth and, particularly, the nineteenth century, played a leading role in the Cornish mining industry and in related industrial and mercantile interests. Hayle, therefore, provided a useful example of the

Great Western Railway's determined practice of re-inventing Cornwall to reflect a predominantly Celtic-inspired, pre-industrial identity. 39 Fowey presented another such case. Whilst celebrated for its historic, picturesque qualities as the traditional fishing community, Fowey was also the county's principal china-clay port. Served by the

G.W.R., the docks handled a vast export trade, mainly to Europe and North America.

Penzance and Falmouth also sustained extensive mercantile and industrial interests, independent of tourism.

The Isles of Scilly, however, offered further scope for exotic, exclusive imagery in terms of their unique setting and aesthetic qualities. But in promotional terms the G.W.R. had, as ever, to incorporate the necessary assurance that access was easy.

The emphasis was placed on high standards of service, smooth efficiency and every consideration for the travellers. Thus, this "Garden of Eden",40 as S.P.B. Mais called it in

'Isles of the Island', 1934, was readily available. The 1908 edition of 'The Cornish 90

Riviera' confirmed the exclusive context; the fundamentally metropolitan perspective in imagery and expectation, not least, for the journey itself.

If you are in a hurry, leave Paddington at 9 pm, enjoy a comfortable

night's rest in the sleeping car and wake up in time to catch a pass-

ing glance of "Majestic Michael." Breakfast at your leisure in

Penzance in a sunny room overlooking Mounts Bay; go on board

and lunch luxuriantly on the S.S. Lyonesse.4I

The Abbey Gardens on the island of Tresco, famous for their exotic plants from all parts of the world, underlined the unique climate and setting of the Islands. Mais referred to the 'Japanese banana, Australian lobsterclaw plant, Mexican yucca, Chilian paya, Burmese honeysuckle and Himalayan ginger.' 42 The overall impact of the Islands as celebrated in 'The Cornish Riviera' was "as a place taking such a hold of the imagination and the affections that it can never be lost or forgotten.43 A final reference to the

Islands, from the 1910 edition of "historic Sites and Scenes of England", combined themes of legend, romance and the significance of special place. Concluding the section on the Isles was a typically Celtic theme of the far West - the imagery of mystic islands and the sea and of ancient communities lost beneath the waves.

It is in the fitness of things that the great romance of the days of

chivalry should end amongst its rocks, its sapphire sea and fields

of narcissi, even if the echoes of the fabled bells of the churches

lying buried fathoms deep below the waves do not actually reach

the ear."

Kynance Cove, much photographed by the G.W.R. Publicity Department, the subject matter for several posters and the inspiration for many more, provided another location for the initiated. The G.W.R.'s literary celebration of Kynance Cove drew stylistically from the Ossian-inspired, genre of dramatic and romantic encounter with awesome

Nature. Filtered through this perspective dating from the mid eighteenth century and 9 1 through popularist accounts of a century later - as in Wilkie Collins' 'Rambles Beyond

Railways', 1861 and his "perfect palace of rocks", 45 'Holiday Haunts' evoked the sense of special place. Exclusivity was expressed in the imagery of "the initiated" and of

"rarer loveliness". It was also reflected in the structural contrast offered between those who make the "casual visit" and those who "thoroughly explore." In effect, it was an open statement of demarcation, enhanced in the geo-cultural context of "this peerless bay."

Though it is impossible to pay even a casual visit to Kynance Cove

without being impressed by its beauty, only the initiated, with plenty

of time at their disposal are able to find and rejoice in the rarer love-

liness which rewards those who thoroughly explore the caves in this

peerless bay.46

Despite the extensive and determined formulations of the Riviera imagery and that of pre-industrial Celtic Cornwall, it is difficult not to be aware of the considerable element of selective presentation - Raymond Williams' concept of 'foreshortening'47 - in the Great Western's portrayal of Cornwall. This was, as detailed earlier, the effective expression of the GReat Western's corporate identity wherein the Cornish experience

was formulated and contextualised in accord with the overall directives from

Paddington. In identifying the progressive re-invention of Cornwall, culturally, Bernard

Deacon and Philip Payton - 'Re-inventing Cornwall' (Cornish Studies, 1993)48 _

inevitably acknowledged the impact of the G.W.R.'s concept of the corporate identity

although the latter was not identified specifically.

As the development of tourism was controlled largely outside Corn-

wall and written about by people outside the Cornish cultural identity,

those aspects of 'difference', re-emphasised and articulated, were

often figments of the suburban Englishman's imagination rather than

pre-existing elements in Cornish culture. The Cornish began to be 92

viewed through an exaggerated prism of romantic bourgeois sensib-

ilities ...

... Cornwall was being re-defined in the interests of tourism. It was

becoming picturesque, its towns and villages quaint, its people

moody, mystical, superstitious and child-like by turns.49

Paddington was no less energetic and inventive in terms of its literary presentation of Southern Ireland. Here, the pursuit of corporate identity was responsible for what emerged as a decidedly Anglicised perspective. Southern Ireland

The Great Western's portrayal of Southern Ireland shared close similarities in terms of content and style with that for Cornwall, but in certain of its Irish portraits, Killarney for example, the company blended elements of the imagery of the dramatic 'difference' in Celtic identity, with that of the reassuring aesthetics and harmony consistent with the pastoral imagery of 'Deep England'. Maxwell Fraser's 'Southern Ireland', G.W.R.,

1932, presented a magical country of infinite beauty, celebrated historical tradition and an endless source of legend and myth relating to the ancient landscape and to the sea.

Southern Ireland was:

A country of glorious lakes and mountains and exquisite valleys

drenched in history, rich in folk-lore and filled with poetic fancies...

In such a land it is impossible not to believe in fairies.50

Throughout its portrait of Southern Ireland the G.W.R. carefully focused its attention upon the country's ancient history and the aesthetic and mystical properties of the landscape. Maxwell Fraser could, therefore, celebrate the important historical dimension without reference to the infinitely more controversial and intensely painful pattern if Ireland's more recent past, explicitly, that of the ongoing religious, political and economic conflicts since the Tudor period. Thus we read:

Ireland can boast one of the oldest civilisations in the world - her 93

culture ranks with that of Greece and Rome, in splendour and

antiquity and her kings were reigning in Tara two thousand years

before the birth of Christ.5I

It was this cultural tradition and perspective that attracted Great Western interest as the celebration of ancient culture and landscape was well in line with the company's aspirations, offering a 'safe' Irish identity that could be readily assimilated into the corporation imagery of the G.W.R., as in Wales and Cornwall. We therefore find common reference in all the Celtic orientated literature to familiar content and style focusing upon the dramatic qualities of landscape, to a mysterious, mystical, rural people and to a rich vein of legend and mythology. This was, in effect, the cultural identity projected by the

Irish people from the 1880s onward. Terence Brown, 'Ireland. A Social and Cultural

History, 1922-1985%52 identifies the rural perspective as being definitive of the national character. From the literary tradition of the 1880s and 1890s, celebrating the heroic and mythological deeds of ancient times to the later rural writing of the 1920s, Brown notes:

They celebrated a version of Irish pastoral where rural life as a con-

dition of virtue in as much as it remained an expression of an ancient

civilisation uncontaminated by commercialism and progress. In so

doing they helped to confirm Irish society in a belief that rural life

constituted an essential element of unchanging Irish identity.53

H.V. Morton's 'In Search of Ireland',54 a vastly popular work that went through thirteen editions between 1930 and 1938, presented Ireland in much the same manner and style as that of the G.W.R. and illustrated Brown's later assessment of the projected

Irish identity. Morton's Ireland was a mystical, aesthetic and historical experience that seduced the visitor into the deepest of sensuous pleasures. As with so many of the Great

Western locations, Ireland was a series of dramatic and emotional encounters demand- ing the total surrender to experience and sensation, not the engagement of the intellect nor of analysis. Morton was very clear about this. In Chapter Seven we read: 94

Killarney is not a holiday resort: it is an opium den. The only desire

left in the vacant mind is to drift slowly about the lakes in a boat ...

The lakes of Killarney are a vast cradle: sleep has come for ever to

the sunny hills, to the woods and the high banked lanes. Why has no-

one gone into literary hysterics about the lanes of Killarney? They

are as lovely as the lakes. They are the most luscious I have ever

seen: they are Warwickshire transferred to the tropics.55

Morton continued his celebration with reference to the flora, giving the impression that it was gathered in such profusion as to overwhelm him.

Flowers pile themselves on the grey stone walls; great hedges of

fuschia hand their blood-red tassels over battalions of six foot fox-

gloves, trim and stalwart as fuschia and there are Canterbury

Bells by the million, snapdragons: pale pink sheets of wild roses

ashake with bees; tropic palms and flowers whose names I am too

tired to remember ...

... I have no energy to fight the beauty of Killarney.56

Elsewhere, Morton wrote enthusiastically about Connemara. He asked: "How can it exist in the modern world? In years of travel I have seen nothing like it.57

Connemara could not be more astonishing than the discovery in

England of a forgotten country in which men spoke the language

of Bede or Alfred the Great, wore Saxon clothes and prayed to

Saxon saints. Connemara is the most surprising thing in the British

Isles. It is nearer to St. Patrick than it is to Dublin.58

Looking to the elemental simplicity, the primitive rural quality of the region, Morton enthused: "There are no railways, no shops, no motor cars, no telegraph poles. 59 To

Morton this was a perspective of positive rural delight, not one of deprivation in the social, economic and political context of the 'Periphery.' He expressed the idealistic 95 character of such communities; a construction and delineation, defined totally in terms of the aesthetic gaze, the spiritual celebrations of the Gaelic League and even the various representations of 'the holiday playground'.

Decades later, Terence Brown pointed to the structural cultural symbolism of this western Gaelic Region.

the vision of an heroic rural life in the Gaeltacht (Gaelic speaking

areas) or on a western island served as a metaphor of social cohesion

and an earnest of a cultural unity that transcended class, politics and

history. Islands of Gaelic speaking people in a sea of anglicisation,

the Gaeltacht and western island represented that ideal unity which

nationalist idealogues had envisaged and prophesied but which reality

had failed to provide.60

But if this was the ideal, the reality took on a different character, approximating more to

Morton's sub-text of the urban celebration of rural society as Brown observed in the urban-rural dialectic that prevailed in this context.

A pastoral myth, important to Irish self-understanding might celebrate

the countryside of the western island as a national Eden, but visits

there were made from the anglicised towns and from the villas and

streets of semi-detached houses in the cities that were advertised in

the weekly and daily papers in terms of a suburban felicity indis-

tinguishable from that which tempted city dwellers throughout the

United Kingdom to invest in home ownership.6I

Thus Brown identifies the deliberate preference of the middle-class "to love a comfortable petit-bourgeois life that bore a closer relationship to the life of similarly placed people in Britain than to any vision of special destiny.62

The mainstream Great Western presentation left no room for qualification. It adhered totally to the pastoral and popularist historical perspective as noted by Brown 96 and detailed here by Maxwell Fraser. The romantic presentation of people and place was unmistakable, projecting both into the realms of fantasy.

The quiet dignity of her humblest peasants, who each and every one,

have a regal bearing and innate good manners which would grace the

greatest noble in the land whilst a vein of imaginative poetry and

keen perception of natural forces gives them a vividness and force-

fullness of speech which is an eternal riddle to those foreigners who

do not realise the centuries of culture which have gone to the making

of Ireland.63

Ireland's ancient Celtic cultural heritage was mystical, elusive and, above all, romantic.

Everywhere in Ireland there are picturesque castles hinting at stirring

deeds and high romance whilst in the monastic ruins may be read the

story of innumerable Irish saints who spread the gospel far and wide.

Christianising many districts of England and penetrating far into

Europe, Ireland's monks were so famed for learning in the early days

of Christianity that people came from all over the known world to

study in the great Irish monasteries.64

Together with its cultural links, Ireland also shared close similarities in terms of landscape and literary definition with both Wales and Cornwall. Southern Ireland's

"Grand Atlantic Coast Route" from Killarney to Caragh Lake, Valencia, Waterville,

Parknasilla and Kenmare, a distance of over eighty miles along the far South West, was a much larger version of the 'Atlantic Drive', a feature of West Cornwall extending from

Land's End to St. Ives, as promoted in 'The Cornish Riviera'. The imagery and associations of both the Irish and Cornish locations were of the same order. Parknasilla was reminiscent of the character and climate of Cornwall's southern coast. Here was a "veritable jungle of colour and fragrance.65

Subtropical flowers and plants are not alien but flourish happily like 97

natives in the warm and sunny atmosphere. Through the tangle of

palms and brilliant tropical flowers, the translucent water of the bay

creeps into many unexpected creeks and bays, which penetrate far

into the gardens.

In point of climate and subtropical vegetation, Parknasilla is the

culminate triumph of Ireland's Riviera for its mean annual temp-

erature is higher than that of Torquay or Ventnor.66

Southern Ireland, like Cornwall, was also distinct, in as far as they each possessed

"the irresistible charm of a foreign country, 67 whilst retaining sufficient features of recognised customs, values and, significantly, language. Maxwell Fraser described this as "the English tongue and customs with a difference." 68 Two further identifiable links between these two Celtic lands were also apparent. Southern Ireland and Cornwall, given their clear differences from English urban society, offered a great sense of release from the pressures of modern life. Chapter Two of 'Southern Ireland', stressed the sense of solace and retreat into leisure and rejuvenation that characterised its landscape and

history. Closely associated with this was the direct emphasis, on the part of the G.W.R.,

in offering easy access to Ireland via its Fishguard to Rossclare crossing. This was con-

sistent with the theme and content of 'The Ocean Coast' focusing largely upon Cornwall.

The Lakes of Killarney were especially popular as a place of pilgrimage and were the

subject of numerous picturesque celebrations defining the district. Fraser considered

that, for most people, Killarney "has become almost a synonym for Ireland itself' 69 and

that, in view of "the praise lavished on it so constantly for the last two centuries.., it is

no less 'compulsory' for those who visit Ireland in the present day than it was in the

Victorian era when every writer of note made the pilgrimage.. •70 The earlier company

literature on this district 'Southern Ireland. Its Lakes and Landscapes', 1904 and 1924,

emphasised the high standards of service provided and the prominent commercial per-

spective of tourism, particularly in terms of the American market. 98

To the average American visitor, Killarney is to Ireland what Strat-

ford Upon Avon or Oxford are to the sister kingdom...

The once rollocking old-world town of which Thackeray drew so

diverting a picture, may nowadays be said to consist almost entirely

of hotels and boarding houses, while the greater part of its popula-

tion is made up of boatmen, guides and carvers of arbutus wood.71

In completing her introduction to Killarney, Maxwell Fraser offered an unmistakable rendering of the rural myth, incorporating landscape, legend and the emotional relationship of time and place; past and present. Nature and Man were in complete harmony and, significantly, it was an uncompromised, pre-industrial context, a landscape that appeared to owe nothing to the twentieth century. Amongst the silver birch, limes, chest- nuts and lakes cradled by the mountains, Killarney was "more fitted to be the haunt of fairies than mortals."72

Gracious ruins mellowing in the sunshine which floods the valleys

with golden light point to man's activity there in past ages, but the

story of Ross Castle, of Aghadoc, of Muckross Abbey and of Inniss-

fallen is laid on pleasant lines, as though the peace of Killarney

soothed even the angry passions of the fierce restless Irish warriors.

Few people take the trouble to inquire into even such history as there

is, preferring to rejoice in the sheer loveliness of these ruins and their

enchanting setting. That is the true magic of Killarney. Its beauty is

so triumphant that nothing else seems to matter. It is a beauty so

incredibly, ravishingly lavish that it almost seems unreal and the

beholder is consumed by a desire to gaze and gaze before some

mystic spell dissolves it for ever.73

This was pre-eminently a landscape and experience of solace and deep peace; a mystical perspective, definitively ahistorical in explicit statement and in style. Totally 99 rural and pre-industrial, there was always the implied contrast with modern, urban life.

Killarney, as presented by Maxwell Fraser, was fundamentally an emotional experience and a definitive statement by the G.W.R. of the rural myth. Retrospective and romantically melancholy, two defining features of all culturally inspired 'Celtic' locations, this work gained its impact not least by reference to positive associations and intense imagery drawn from the careful use of appealing adjectives - "gracious, mellow, golden, enchanting, lavish and mystic." The mystical dimension was definitive of all Celtic culture, recurring almost endlessly in reference to pre-industrial Ireland, Wales and

Cornwall.

Cashel, reached from the railway line from Waterford to Clonmel, was an excellent example of an historic Celtic cultural shrine, after the manner of Tintagel in Cornwall, or Glastonbury in Somerset, with their close associations with Arthurian legend. It was

"a place of memories and splendid ruins, set in scenery which is fittingly wild and magnificent."74 Maxwell Fraser outlined its historical and cultural significance.

... Cashel became the most sanctified spot in all Ireland. Linked at

first with the remote days of Munster's earliest kings, with the com-

ing of St. Patrick in 450 it became one of the principal seats of

Christianity in Ireland.75

Compared favourably to Tara, in Northern Ireland, Cashel offered a more stirring visual impact:

... for whereas Tara is a bare hilltop whose soul-stirring memories

have to be conjured up in the mind of the imaginative, Cashel has

magnificent buildings to arrest the eye and inspire interest in the

fascinating story their grey old stones can te11.76

To conclude this outline survey we can refer to Maxwell Fraser's opening paragraph of Chapter Three: 'Southern Ireland'. It revealed definite similarities of style and content with her well known, 'Somerset', G.W.R., 1934. It also indicated real contrasts 100 of landscape and soil, again features of both Ireland and Cornwall. It was a portrait of harmony, stability, prosperity and contentment, which in this instance emphasised the comparative element, always apparent in her work.

The railway from Clonmel to Castle Connell and Killaloe runs

through a smiling and gracious countryside of lush pasture lands

and clear rivers, where every village is prosperous and contented and

even the ruins hold no hint of sadness, seemingly only to speak of

the greatness of the past, without regret for the lawless cruelty that

is gone for ever. This south-western corner of Ireland has some of

the richest and fertile soil in the whole country and its people do not

have to contend with the extreme poverty which is so apparent in

the wild, unproductive loveliness of the far west coast.'"

In its English equivalent, it was the pastoral prosperity of Somerset contrasted with the economic plight, but noted aesthetic appeal of Cornwall. But once again, like the experience of Cornwall, the portrait of Southern Ireland offered extensive evidence of the principle of accommodation in almost every paragraph. The carefully selected content and style here reflects a deep conservatism and a sense of well being and security

which is seen to reflect in the serenity, harmony and general aesthetic experience of the

landscape. Conflict was clearly consigned to the distant past and was therefore tamed

and romanticised. It was the landscape and experience of the comfortable observer,

drawing upon an assumed system of values - social, political, economic, cultural - albeit essentially English in origin and nature and fundamentally class-orientated. The land-

scape was essentially passive, there to be observed, enjoyed, celebrated, for its given

qualities of reassurance.

This perspective could not have been better exemplified than in the final section of

A.M. Broadley's 'Southern Ireland, Its Lakes and Landscapes', July 1904. Setting the

scene of the homeward journey - "the morning express bearing you swiftly eastward ... 101 ample leisure over a capital breakfast admirably served in one of the luxurious corridor coaches ... the exchange of ideas, impressions and reminiscences" 78 - the definitive context, the cultural agenda is revealed: "One returns to England" from one of the "playgrounds of Empire".

One returns to England with a profound conviction that nothing could

possibly be brighter than the prospects of South and South-Western

Ireland as one of the great playgrounds of the British Empire.79

The classifications were, likewise, indicative of leisured, affluent status:

For the sportsman, be he angler, golfer, cyclist or pedestrian...

To the historian, the antiquarian and the thoughtful [in] pilgrimage

to the historic sites, scenes and shrines. 8O

Cornwall had, likewise, been designated, a 'playground of empire' and, with this perspective in mind, it is interesting to note that both in Cornwall and Southern Ireland this celebration of pre-industrial, ethnic characterisation took place against a history and an on-going process of large-scale emigration by the native population. 81 Whilst

Maxwell Fraser rejoiced over Ireland's sublime, mystical landscape and H.V. Morton contemplated "the only eternal figure the world has known: the man who guides a plough... "82 and again, conjured visions of St. Patrick, "rising up over the mound of

Tara, his hand uplifted", 83 Queenstown and embarkation on board ship for a new land and a new life was the more familiar, and sharply contrasting, final experience of Ireland for vast numbers of its inhabitants.

Southern Ireland and Cornwall served the G.W.R. well in terms of their designated, accommodatory role, conforming to ancient, mystically inspired Celtic cultures. The foregoing discussion has made clear Paddington's extensive and determined projection of these communities as culturally differentiated from mainstream, traditional English identity and has also indicated the wider literary context (eg, H.V. Morton) within which the G.W.R.'s contribution was defined. 102

In conforming to Paddington's presentation of cultural differentiation, Southern

Ireland and Cornwall were subject to detailed, almost total reinvention, that is, in the context of the company's literary enterprise. But it was a process and product which, in celebrating definitively aesthetic, mystical and sublime qualities, discounted many key points of close, historically-grounded comparison. Despite the primacy of the desired pre-industrial, ethnic, aesthetic-sublime identity, the social, economic, political and religious perspectives of Southern Ireland in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and those of Cornwall over the same period, with its international industrial identity, albeit fated to decline and destruction, testified to sharply contrasting circumstances.

Both communities, despite their historical-cultural identifications, witnessed extensive depression and emigration, factors that, under the circumstances, brought out a certain sense of irony in terms of the fulsome statements and celebrations of a cultural tradition.

Celtic revivalists within Southern Ireland and in Cornwall clearly embraced the differentiated identification of their respective communities - a perspective addressed by

Anthony Smith, distinguishing between the formulation and focus of 'high' and 'low' cultures84 -W.B. Yeats and the Gaelic Revival being a prominent example in later nineteenth century Ireland, whilst the institution of the Cornish Gorsedd with its Bardic cer- emonies, dating from 1928 and the earlier 'Cornish Celtic Society', 1901, marked similarly inspired moves in Cornwal1. 85 In both cases, however, the revival, whatever their motive and focus, was clearly subsumed into the broader-based process of re-invention as characterised by the Great Western Railway's literary focus. Declan Kiberd, in his essay, 'Irish Literature and Irish History' in 'The Oxford History of Ireland', addresses this revivalist perspective:

Whereas the English had called backward, superstitious and uncivil-

ised, the Yeatsian revivalists created an idealised counter-image which

saw the land as pastoral, mystical and admirably primitive. Yet such

a counter-image was false, if only because it elevated a single aspect 103

of Ireland into a type of the whole. "Connaught for me is Ireland,"

said Yeats; but Ireland was not Connaught - rather she was a patch-

work-quilt of cultures and fiefdoms, as indeed before the Normans

invaded. George Watson has elaborated this point, showing how

the folklorism of Yeats confirmed the traditional image of the Irish

as subservient and menial - except that now they were deemed

menial in colourful and interesting new ways.86

The Great Western Railway's re-invention of Southern Ireland, Cornwall, Wales and Brittany as characteristically pre-industrial, aesthetically defined communities was undoubtedly confirmed and assimilated both in English representations and, significantly, amongst large sections of the given Irish and Cornish - the Celtic communities generally. And in as far as the latter consented to, and identified with, this characterisation, we return to David Brett's point: that these communities had been effectively de-historicised. Moreover, as Declan Kiberd asserted above, the reinvented community was thus politically subservient; commercially dependent. The consolation was the possession of the differentiated identity - indicated by Foster in the Gaelic League's spiritual, mystical Irish heritage, in Brett's periphery, or, in alternative perceptual terms, the

'object' of the initiate gaze, clearly distinguished from that of the 'subject', the carefully distanced, culturally exclusive observer defining the orientation, identity and experience. 104

CHAPTER FOUR

The Celtic Sublime

1/ Stuart Piggott. The Druids, Penguin ed, London, 1974. Pl. Thames and Hudson, London, 1968. Penguin Books, 1974. Pl. See also Simon James 'The Atlantic Celts. Ancient People Or Modern Invention', British Museum Press, London, 1999. The author offers one representation of 'Celtic' as "a general adjective for almost any thing to do with the distant, insular past. . . Ancient Celts may be rooted in a remote ahistorical dream-time evoked especially by earth- work monuments and standing stones." P20. Likewise, Murray G.H. Pittock, Celtic Identity and the British Image. Introduction, 'Defining Terms', Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1999.

2/ David Brett. The Construction of Heritage, Cork University Press, Cork. 1996

3/ Ibid P57

4/ Ibid P38. See also James, Chapter Five, here. Also, Pittock, P5 'Save to some extent in the case of Northern Ireland, with its virulent politics, Celticism remains a concept marketed at an ahistorical and depoliticised distance from the contemporary."

5/ G.W.R. Cardigan Bay Resorts, 1925 P5

6/ E.T. MacDermot. History of the Great Western Railway, G.W.R. 1931 Revised, C.R. Clinker, Ian Allan, London, 1964 PPs 243-44

7/ G.W.R. Through The Window. Paddington To Birkenhead, 1925 P73

8/ Hugh Kearney. The British Isles. A History of Four Nations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989.

9/ Ibid P872

10/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, Pembrokeshire, 1937. P861

11/ Kearney. British Isles P94

12/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1937 P861

13/ Maxwell Fraser. England And Why. Great Western and Southern Railways of England. 1932 PPs 27 and 31

14/ G.W.R. Sunny Cornwall. England's Mediterranean Region. 1924 105

15/ A.M. Broadley. The Cornish Riviera, G.W.R. (1904) 1908 ed P61

16/ G.W.R. The Scenery Attractions and Historical Associations of the Cornish Riviera, 1913. P1

17/ Broadley. Cornish Riviera P5

18/ Homeland Association. Homeland Handbook: Vol 85, 'Penzance', Homeland Association, London, 1924, P33

18/ Ibid P34

20/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1936, P168

21/ Ibid P170

23/ S.P.B. Mais. The Cornish Riviera, G.W.R. 1928 ed, P75

23/ Ibid P75

24/ G.W.R. Beautiful Brittany. La Belle Bretagne, May, 1909. This work drew close parallels between Cornish and Breton landscape and culture. Subtitled: 'An Ideal New Holiday Ground' its comparisons included, for example, Pointe du Raz: "the resemblance of the Pointe du Raz to the English Lands End will at once be apparent.' (P111). Likewise, Isle De Sein - "burial place of the Druids of Cornovaille ... the rugged coastline scenery reminds one forcibly of the Isles of Scilly" (P112). There were also the numerous instances of inundations - towns and villages lost to the sea - of mythopeoic crea- tures, numinous landscapes and personages definitive of Celtic mythology. Close comparisons here, served to enhance the differentiation of both locations from English metropolitan perspectives making Cornwall and Britanny equally mysterious and alluring but, vitally, accessible.

25/ Alain Corbin. The Lure Of The Sea, Penguin, London. 1995 See especially his Chapter Nine "A World of Transparent Characters" for a detailed exposition of the figures, forces and imagery generally that has provided the subject matter and reference for the romantic celebration of Celticism in its maritime context - that which clearly inspired the G.W.R.'s work and, indeed, the modern-day heritage movement in Cornwall.

26/ Ibid P221

27/ David Lowenthal. The Past Is A Foreign Country, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985. P246. See also Anthony D. Smith. The Ethnic Origins of Nations, Blackwell, Oxford, 1986- Romantic nationalism as an 'historical drama' PPs 179-183 106

28/ David Lowenthall. P246

29/ Raphael Samuel. Theatres Of Memory, Verso, London, New York. 1994

30/ Ibid P271

31/ Lowenthal. The Past Is A Foreign Country. P249. A distinction between what we might term the English 'historical' and the Celtic ahistorical perspectives needs to be noted here. In many ways Lowenthal's reference applies more effectively to the former category. In many respects the Celtic experience, defined by David Brett as ahistorical, found its most powerful resonance in the dimensions described by Corbin as that of "a topography of legends anchored in accounts of this space [the coast that] reinforced the indeterminate, vacuous nature of the territory. It imposed an image of a cultureless place over which an unchanging nature reigned." 'Lure of the Sea' (P221.) He also spoke of romantics who, "peopled the solitary shores with a succession of dreamy characters who gave n intermittent meaning to the ruins, the mossy rocks or the seagulls cry." (P220). "Here, the delight in bygone eras could only be found through their evocation or resurrection," P130. Stonehenge, of course, like Glastonbury, inspired romantic Arthurian imagery and associations. In particular see 'Wonderful Wessex', G.W.R., 1908. P40/41

32/ Caroline Fox and Frances Greenacre. Artists Of The Newlyn School, 1880-1900, Newlyn Orion Gallery, Newlyn, 1979 Caroline Fox. Painting In Newlyn, Newlyn Orion, Penzance, 1985 Caroline Fox. Stanhope Forbes And The Newlyn School, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1993.

33/ Robert Hunt. Popular Romances Of The West Of England, (1871) Chatto and Windus, London, 1923. This collection was the basis and inspiration for the G.W.R.'s 'Legend Land' series published in four volumes from 1923

34/ Quoted: Caroline Fox, Painting In Newlyn, 1900-1930, Newlyn Orion, 1985. P14

34/ Alain Corbin. Lure of the Sea. P211

36/ G.W.R. Magazine. June, 1938. PPs 237-38

37/ Mais. Cornish Riviera, 1934 ed P94

38/ Holiday Haunts, 1934 P159 107

39/ See Ref. Corbin, Lure of the Sea. P221 "Clearly this work of the imagination required a denial of the appropriation or the working of these places ... the shores, like the moors and marshes, created an opportunity for a discourse rejecting modernity."

40/ S.P.B. Mais. Isles Of The Island, Putnam, London, 1934. P266

41/ A.M. Broadley. Cornish Riviera, 1908 ed. P68/69

42/ S.P.B. Mais. Isles Of The Island. P256

43/ A.M. Broadley. Cornish Riviera, 1908 ed. P71

44/ A.M. Broadley. Historic Sites and Scenes of England, G.W.R. (10904) 1910 ed P131

45/ See Wilkie Collins: Rambles Beyond Railways. Notes in Cornwall taken afoot, Richard Bentley, London. 1851 and the much earlier and highly acclaimed, A Journey To The Western Islands of Scotland And The Journal Of A Tour To The Hebrides, Samuel Johnson And James Boswell, 1775/1786, Penguin Classics ed, London. 1984. See esp. PPs 138-143

46/ Holiday Haunts, 1934 ed. P160

47/ Raymond Williams. The Country and the City, Chatto and Windus, London. 1973. The Hogarth Press, London 1993 - See Chapter Sixteen, 'Knowable Communities', PPs 165-181

48/ Bernard Deacon and Philip Payton, 'Cornish Studies' One, Exeter, 1993. P71

49/ Ibid P71

50/ Maxwell Fraser. Southern Ireland, G.W.R. 1932. P3

51/ Ibid P4

52/ Terence Brown. Ireland: A Social and Cultural History 1922-1985, Fontana, London. 1981.

53/ Ibid P84

54/ H.V. Morton. In Search Of Ireland, Methuen, London. 1930

55/ Ibid P135

56/ Ibid P136 108

57/ Ibid P173

58/ Ibid P173

59/ Ibid P173

60/ Terence Brown. Ireland. Cultural History, P92. See also R.F. Foster, Modern Ireland, 1600-1972, Allen Lane, Penguin, London, 1988. P448. Discussing the Gaelic League's thematic 'idealisation of the lifestyle of the west' Foster observed: "where Balfour's administration saw an economic disaster area, the League saw the remnants of a Celtic civilisation that implied a spiritual empire far greater than England's tawdry industrialised hegemony." Also supporting Brown's conclusions, Foster again observed, P449, "The barefoot children, turf fires and unrelieved diet of the west were romantically approved by the Gaelicist intelligentia who felt accordingly let down by the Cannacht people's propensity to emigrate."

61/ Ibid P135. See also R.F. Foster, Modern Ireland. P538

62/ Ibid P136

63/ Maxwell Fraser. Southern Ireland. P4

64/ Ibid P4

65/ Ibid P29

66/ Ibid P29

67/ Ibid P5

68/ Ibid P5

69/ Ibid P19

70/ Ibid P19

71/ A.M. Broadley. Southern Ireland. Its Lakes And Landscapes, G.W.R. Handy Aids series, No. 10, May, 1927. P17

72/ Fraser. Southern Ireland, P20. See also Morton's depiction of the Connemaran seaweed gatherer, a girl, "perhaps eighteen years of age" whom he describes in terms of the archetypal child of nature, primitive but alluring, endowed with both "her massive ignorance" and "queer smothered nobility." Morton drew heavily, here, upon the received feminine gendering of Celtic identity and upon the concomitant imagery of the seashore as a place of desire and danger. Elsewhere, he speculates: 109

"How on earth do these wild children settle down in America?" In Search Of Ireland. PPs 185-192. Also PPs 193, 197/98

73/ Ibid P20

74/ Ibid P11

75/ Ibid P12

76/ Ibid P12

77/ Ibid P14

78/ A.M. Broadley. Southern Ireland: Its Lakes And Landscapes, G.W.R. July, 1904. P88

79/ Ibid P88

80/§ Ibid P88

81/ Philip Payton. The Making Of Modern Cornwall, Dyllansow, Truro, 1993. See particularly Chapter Five, 'Decline And Diaspora.' P99-118 R.F. Foster. Modern Ireland, 1988 "Emigration is the great fact of Irish social history from the early nineteenth century. It cannot be seen simply as part of the disruptions attendant upon the Famine: a large- scale exodus began long before it and continued long afterwards." P345 F.S.L. Lyons, 'Ireland Since The Famine', Fontana, London, 1963, P609

82/ Morton P273

83/ Ibid P273

84/ Anthony Smith. History And Modernity, 1996, from Representing The Nation. A Reader. Ed David Boswell and Jessica Evans. Routledge, London. 1999 PPs 45-58

85/ Declan Kibard. Irish Literature and Irish History, Oxford History of Ireland, Ed R.F. Foster, Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1992, P265 Philip Payton. The Making Of Modern Cornwall, especially Chapter Six, 'The Great Paralysis', PPs 199-138

86/ Declan Kiberd. Irish Literature and Irish History, Oxford History of Ireland. P265. Hugh Kearney also emphasises the localised or tribal nature of the 'Celtic' landscapes. Kearney, The British Isles, 1989. PPs 21-24 110

CHAPTER FIVE Anglo-American Perspectives

"I had long been convinced that this country could and should

attract many visitors from America and elsewhere and, being a

keen advocate of a good understanding with America, I was an

enthusiastic supporter of Sir Frances Towle when he started what

was known as the Come To Britain movement."1

Felix Pole, General Manager, G.W.R. 1 924-2 9

The historical dimension was a consistent and, indeed, definitive feature of the

G.W.R.'s literary record. It was delivered in the broadest context of both national and international orientation and was thematically led by close reference to the principles of the Anglo-Saxon inheritance - the historiographical context of providential mission and manifest destiny. This was evident in both detail and general statement and, as such,

informed all related representations consistent with the desired historical identification

and expression, as in the political and aesthetic-emotional properties of landscape, for

example, central to perspectives of the imagined Anglo-American community. The dia-

logue between homeland and overseas territories was reinforced by such perceptions

infusing cumulative cultural resonance into images of the 'Mother Country' and her

extended 'family' as in various imperially-inspired formulations of a 'Greater Britain',

after J.R. Seeley's closely defined 'Expansion Of England', 1883,2 and the specific iden-

tification of the English Speaking Peoples. Thus, the determinedly international projec-

tion of English imagery and identity as formulated and symbolised in the celebration of

'Shakespeare Land' or in the received resonance of Warwickshire and 'The Green Heart

of England'. Proclaimed in G.W.R. literature as 'The World's Greatest Travel Shrine',

Shakespeare's England, as an obvious example, constituted an unqualified statement of 111 cultural authority, grounded in the matrix of the rural, historical identification.

North American interests were always prominent in the celebrations of this historical perspective, not least for the fact that, within definitions of common cultural heritage, the thematic focus of the imagined community, the United States was clearly the company's principal overseas market. Every effort was made to accommodate

American interests, with the result that cultural and commercial perspectives, the thrust of place marketing, were very closely identified. Direct reference to the company's work at this stage can serve to illustrate the central thematic focus.

The Introduction to the company's 1904 publication, 'Historic Sites and Scenes of

England', engaged American interests in what was a statement of citizenship and internationally-orientated mission.

Throughout the ages movements have found their birth in this beloved

country of ours which have made for the betterment of our peoples

and the peoples of other climes. Briefly it can be said that England

has been the birthplace of much that has had and will continue to

have a beneficent influence upon the world. It is because of that,

that she still is "Mother England."3

This was the general expression of the Anglo-Saxon inheritance and in the following two extracts from the G.W.R.'s extensive Stratford reference, four defining themes delineat- ing the character of the company's specifically Anglo-American representation are evident. In summary, they comprise a clearly defined historical focus in content and style; the iconography of 'pilgrimage' and `shrine'; detailed contextual reference to the rural- pastoral tradition and an overall commercial dimension incorporating promotion/publicity and exclusive service, thereafter.

Within a few miles of the centre of England, Stratford is the very

heart's core of England's artistic life and rightfully venerated as a

precious shrine which draws pilgrims from the four corners of the 112

earth, no less than every town and village of the British Isles - an

ancient, tranquil and unspeakably beautiful town in the true pastoral

scenery of Merry England - fit setting for the lovely heritage Shakes-

peare gave to his country.4

Likewise, in normative tone:

The homeland of Shakespeare has ever been, and always must be,

regarded in the light of a place of pilgrimage by every member of

the great Anglo-Saxon race and it is, moreover, a sacred spot, the

key to the gates of which is firmly held by the Great Western Rail-

way.5

'England and Why', (Maxwell Fraser, 1932 edition) articulated the American orientation presenting the sense of intimate, shared heritage in fulsome and unproblematic manner. Subtitled, 'Where American History Was Born', her work revealed a determinedly atavistic character, accessing or historicising the American people within the mainstream Anglo-Saxon tradition as reflected in the intended impact of the terms,

"home", "true-born American", "common origin", and "English Speaking Nations".

England is as much "home" to every true-born American as the

United States itself, for the ancestors of present day Americans and

Englishmen worked, fought and played side-by-side all through the

ages until the discovery of American in 1492, and even then the

colonisation of the New World was spread over such a long period

that the history of the two nations was still practically merged until

the Declaration of Independence three centuries later.6

Seeking to assert the primacy of the common heritage over the single and, significantly, unqualified reference to Independence, Maxwell Fraser stressed the sense of community.

It is the common origin and community of interest, more than any-

thing else which binds together the two great English-speaking 113

nationals so closely and makes such poets as Chaucer and Shakes-

peare no less national to America than to England and the kings

and heroes of the past, a precious joint heritage.7

Fraser's representation was by no means a simple description of events. It embod-

ied a complex, culturally-loaded agenda, which applied throughout the G.W.R.'s

American representations specifically, addressing the issues of cultural orientation and

accommodation, as in the problematic delineation of authority in terms of centre and

periphery; and, not least, how this was to be defined. The celebration of a "previous joint heritage" might well suggest - in the context of deliberately including and cele-

brating North America, as here - that the latter was essentially a beneficiary. So also, it

is important to note the G.W.R.'s stipulative definition of the United States as, effec-

tively, New England writ large. "True-born Americans" within the G.W.R.'s cultural

perspective conspicuously ignored the substantial Spanish and French influences of the

early and formative colonial era, and, likewise, the mass immigration of the nineteenth

and early twentieth centuries. But the vast influx of Irish, Italian, Jewish and Eastern

European peoples, indeed, the substantial Irish influence within New England itself,

surely challenged the 'common origin and community of interest'. In as far as this over-

all perspective indicated an English cultural centre, the United States, as conceived in

G.W.R. terms, reflected the formative features, therefore, of a decisively English, Anglo-

Saxon construct, historically defined. To this end, within the collective appellation of

the 'English Speaking Peoples' it was always clear that the trans-Atlantic identification

- 'The Brethren of the Mystic Tie"8 - was predominant within the Great Western's pre-

sentation.

Looking to the specifically American orientated literature, there was little doubt

that, although the subject matter was decisively English, the essential focus was

American. This was evident in the depiction of 'Historic Oxford' in the 1931 edition of

'England And Why'. Whilst evoking imperial perspectives in the person of Cecil 114

Rhodes, Maxwell Fraser integrated latter-day American scholars into the overall, inclusive ambience of the likes of Sir Thomas More. Oxford was Alma Mater to future

Anglo-American statesmen.

Oxford claims to rank with Rome as a City of Palaces and, if any-

thing could strengthen the feelings of love and admiration with

which Oxford is always regarded by the cultured citizens of the

great transatlantic Republic, it is the princely munificence of the

late Mr. Cecil Rhodes, whose well endowed scholarships are now

bringing many earnest students from the United States to the coll-

eges which in times gone by witnessed the early training of such

men of mark and merit as Thomas More, Bishop Butler and Tom

Hughes...9

The subtle nexus of tradition and authority, of continuity, initiation and inheritance apparent here confirms the process and procedure of assimilation and differentiation. it also acknowledges and incorporates the fact of American independence and, in the historical context of the inter-war era in particular, adds edge to the crucial question in

Anglo-American relations: who was accommodating whom?

Like Oxford, Chester was also endowed with special, historic and cultural significance. "North Wales. The British Tyrol" declared:

Its time-honoured relics present an extraordinary fascination for

English-speaking peoples and especially for the citizens of the New

World, many thousands of whom visit it every year. To them it is

the visible record of many centuries inseparably bound up with the

history of the country and the race.10

In a further appeal to focus and maintain American interest in Britain, favourable comparisons were offered with rival European cultural centres:

The red sandstone of Cheshire is to Chester what the French lime- 115

stone is to Paris, the sparkling marble to Athens and the grey peperino

to early Rome.I1

Salisbury Cathedral was a further definitive expression of English cultural identity; of aesthetic excellence and the expression of national achievement:

Salisbury Cathedral is not only endowed with surpassing beauty, but

there is no trace of foreign influence perceptible in its design. It

remains what it was on the day the spire was finally completed -

the most perfect realisation of pure English Gothic.12

'Wonderful Wessex' also set its tribute in comparative mode. Drawing upon imperial and continental contexts, the G.W.R. emphasised Salisbury's cultural significance and impact. The thirteenth century structure was acclaimed as:

the most uniform, harmonious and beautifully proportioned Cathed-

ral of the British Empire ... The pilgrim from the other side of the

Atlantic, Continental visitors from across the Channel as well as

English antiquarians, ecclesiologists and holiday-makers generally,

are fast realising that it is at Salisbury and Salisbury only that one

can hope to realise the rare beauty and strange fascination of past

and present home-life in the shadow of a mighty minster.I3

In further thematic reference to harmony in the past-present interaction and the definitive context wherein, "the history of the Church and City are conterminious," 14 'Holiday

Haunts', almost thirty years after this tribute from 'Wonderful Wessex', sustained the imagery of harmony and continuity.

There is a complete harmony between the old-world peace of the

Close and the lovely Cathedral and the whole town is permeated

with an atmosphere of serenity enhanced by its ancient buildings.I5

There was also the broader context of aesthetic harmony - that of the town and its rural setting, of which it was asserted: 1 1 6

... no description, however well drawn, can do justice to the charm

of this ancient town and the countryside in which it is set - those

lovely meads which are endued with the peaceful beauty of the

English countryside at its best.16

Harmony and continuity as celebrated here in their historic and aesthetic contexts were no less decisive for their contemporary political significance in enhancing the Anglo-

American relationship.

Looking to concepts of possession, and the expression of cultural authority, the historic, aesthetic and implicit political construction evident in the foregoing examples, would seem to indicate an English centre. But the Great Western's presentation left the issue open, indicating thematically the wider international context of inheritance and the process of cultural transfer and appropriation - the recognition of an ongoing, assumed

assimilation. In formulating its appeal to North America in terms of a cultural pilgrim-

age and evoking the imagery and associations of shrines and remembrance - of the

sacred and the protocol of veneration, awe and obligation, the G.W.R. could be said to

have recognised and, in effect, formalised the sense of the American inheritance as

achieved. In pilgrimage as in the case elsewhere - to Jerusalem or Rome, for example -

the pilgrim journeyed back to the formative site, given that it may no longer constitute

the active, ongoing centre of that culture or experience in an overt social, economic or

political sense. An American focus, looking to that continent as the authentic heir to the

perceived Anglo-Saxon inheritance and mission by virtue of its authority as the leading

industrial, commercial and political power, would thus recognise a substantially reorien-

tated relationship with England. The latter would effectively legitimise the inheritance

structurally and thematically as the inevitable historical development. Thus the imagery

and symbolism of pilgrimage and shrine and the principle that the Anglo-Saxon inheri-

tance was its history. It was definitive of progressive adaptation and fulfilment as David

Lowenthal argues in his considerations of the concept of Presentism and as American 117 policy had both declared and demonstrated.I7

In evoking the values and rhetoric of the Anglo-Saxon supremacy but, crucially, implementing them within the context of the Republican Constitution, American interests pursued imperially-inspired credentials similar to those of the British Empire, as evident in reference to the Spanish-American War of 1898. American policy in the immediate context of its victory in that war, and the matrix of political, economic and strate- gic factors that defined development thereafter, was instructive as to orientations in cultural authority and mission.

Military governments in Cuba and the Phillipines after the Spanish-

American War gave American leaders the confidence that they

could bring order to the rest of the world. General Leonard Wood

proudly declared that "for the first time probably in its history,

Havana has an honest and efficient government clean of bribery

and speculation." An American reporter praised "the establishment

in a little over three years, in a Latin military colony in one of the

most unhealthy countries of the world, of a republic made closely

upon the lines of our own great Anglo-Saxon republic."I8

Drawing upon a wider context and, again, paralleling European and, specifically, British, experience in an imperial perspective, the definitive agenda of authority, order and citizenship was asserted.

Thus, for the new corporate and political elites, their success in

organising rational space in American cities, in controlling the

millions of European peasants who had come to these cities, in

educating these masses in the efficient ways of industry, according

to the discipline of linear time, could be repeated throughout the

entire world.I9

Theodore Roosevelt's conviction: "Peace cannot be held until the civilised nations have 1 1 8 expanded in some shape over the barbarous nations." 20 or indeed, Wilson's proclama- tion: "I am going to teach the South American republics to elect good men." 2I reflected the confident declarations of Cecil Rhodes, Joseph Chamberlain or Arthur Balfour; the imperial perspectives of Lord Rosebury: "It is our history, our tradition, our race. It is to us a matter of influence, of peace, of commerce, of civilisation, above all, a question of faith."22

Elevated statements of principle and historiographical resonance as entertained by

Lord Rosebury, however, were subject to extensive readjustment during the inter-war era in line with the climate of international uncertainty and the shifting spectrum of geo-politics. As an indicator, the Imperial Conferences revealed a distancing of allegiance and identity with regard to Britain and expectations of Imperial Federation on the part of the latter found no appropriate echo in the Dominions. In the American context, Correlli

Barnett and D. Cameron-Watt have agreed that, in political and diplomatic terms, there was, during the twenties, a climate of hostility towards Britain. Barnett, referring to

what he considered to be Britain's illusionary formulation of "a mythical America,"23

wrote:

Except, again, for unrepresentative circles on the East Coast, America

did not reciprocate British sentiments towards her.24

D. Cameron-Watt's 'Succeeding John Bull', 1984, drew on Foreign Office files from

1927 to assert:

From 1920 onwards, however, a growing conviction can be found

among those in search of a "possible America" that the United States,

in reality, was hostile, inimical and, above all, Foreign!25

Whatever the implications of a 'mythical' or 'possible America' in formal diplo-

macy, the G.W.R. pursued an ever-increasing commitment to tourism. In its self-desig-

nation, formulated in the American-orientated literature, as 'The National Holiday Line',

'The Holiday Line of the British Empire', 'The English Speaking Peoples' and 'The 119

Line of the American Pilgrim', the company, in line with the British Travel Association generally, was increasingly driven to court American favour, harnessing commercial expediency to cultural reference or, indeed, vice-versa given the depressed (and limited) domestic economy. And, like the Southern Railway, the G.W.R. had every incentive to do so. The American tourist agenda was ideally served by the Great Western and

Southern Railways, who made more effort to do so than did the L.M.S. and the L.N.E.R.

G.W.R. interests, cognisant of the commercial potential of tourism, advocated government involvement through the Travel Association to enhance international tourism, calling repeatedly for increased funding in advertising and direct fiscal reform in the form of the repeal of the visa charge of ten dollars per person on American visitors to Britain.

Elsewhere in Europe visas were either not required or issued on a nominal sum of up to two dollars maximum. The American market represented a far more valuable source of

tourist revenue then that of the Empire as the thrust of the joint schemes under the

'Associated Companies' indicated. The Minutes of Meetings of Advertising (Publicity)

Representatives - Railway Clearing House across the entire inter-war era reflected the

overall primacy of trans-Atlantic considerations and, on occasion, registered them in

almost open preference to clearly defined imperial interests. Perspectives of 'Crown

Imperial' and 'Greater Britain' were central to tourist marketing schemes, indicating, in

the climate of early thirties depression, the necessity of economic expediency. This was

indicated in the somewhat desperate rallying cry of H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Patron

of the Travel Association of Great Britain and Ireland, in January 1932: "This is the

moment when we want to impress upon the world that our country is still alive; that it

means to go forward again"26. It was also echoed in Felix Pole's plea in accord with the

Travel Association for vital Government assistance to promote overseas markets and

again, later, in 1946, in a blunt admission from the Minister for Overseas Trade - "We so

badly want their dollars." 27 Both the G.W.R. and the Travel Association issued what

was, in terms of its imagery and theme, an almost identical statement recognising the 120 relative importance of tourism for the British economy by the mid thirties. In October

1935 the G.W.R. recorded the total income from tourism for 1934 to be £25,573,000, "a figure that compares very favourably with the revenue of £28,846,000 and £31,854,000 from woollen and coal exports respectively" 28. The Travel Association's official history notes that visitors to the United Kingdom by 1938 numbered 720,429, from 475,088 in 1932. It concluded that, with an income, 1938, of £28,981,000, this was a figure that

"compared with the revenue accruing from the nation's exports, at that time, of wool or of coal"29

Literary perspectives during the inter-war years, and increasingly so during the thirties, reflected the intensification of cultural-commercial themes defining the Anglo-

American identity. Partial parallels might also be offered with the increasingly common reference to 'family' imagery in terms of Empire where geo-political considerations became particularly important during the thirties. The 'Come To Britain' campaign dating from 1926 and the Travel Association of Great Britain and Ireland, 1929, closely involved with the Railway Clearing House in its efforts to co-ordinate the railway companies into joint or preferred centralised initiatives and, again, the participation of the

International Hotels Association, reflected both the promotional efforts and the projected character and style of the British experience. the G.W.R. Magazine carried a detailed article on the Travel Association in November 1931, presenting Britain's cultural heritage as a vibrant, living experience, making direct appeal to a past-present interaction in the style of a cultural encounter. But, within the substance of this appeal, the sense of commercially driven urgency was apparent as, indeed, was the implicit recognition of competition elsewhere and, consequently, the need to offer active events, as in the reference to "these islands as far than dead territory."30

Moreover, it is not 'dead' territory that we offer our visitors. These

islands pulsate with life and activity. Castles, if no longer inhabited,

are backgrounds for pageants recalling the thrilling scenes of their 121

histories; cathedrals hold their services interspersed with music

festivals; county towns have their fairs and historic galas; rivers

and seaside places have their regattas and industrial tours have

their exhibitions. Everywhere there are events as well as places of

interest.3I

The Travel Association here, in evoking the idea of living heritage, was however careful to maintain the traditionalist agenda definitive of both British formulation and

American expectations, culturally. This much was apparent in the joint company arrangements for the American Tourist Agents' Tour of October 1929. 32 With an itinerary comprising Oxford, Leamington, York, Edinburgh, Melrose, The English Lakeland,

Chester and Bath, thence Bournemouth, via the Somerset and Dorset route - a classic railway of rural England - the central theme of historical tradition and of common cultural identity was uppermost. Further inducements agreed between the companies included various gratuities as in the provision of first class travel, meals, wines and cig- ars en-route, also the inclusion of a number of extra guided tours. Whilst this was considered expedient, commercially, if not generous on the part of the hosts, it was, however, recognised practice in continental terms.

Together with newspaper coverage and the supply of promotional films, the joint advertising strategy included a series of talks on Britain, broadcast from some 500 wireless stations across North America whilst, earlier, in April 1931, the Travel Association opened an office in Paris. Commercial enterprise was deemed a vital factor, but for all such efforts, publicity generally was considered small-scale by American and

Continental standards as confirmed in the following statements by the American

Ambassador to Great Britain and the General Manager of The Tourist Association of

Great Britain and Ireland, respectively. Offering the wider, international context, the

Ambassador observed:

Possessing one of the loveliest bits of the whole world, you are not 122

very willing to admit the fact and you are most unwilling to proclaim

it from the housetops. People go to those lands whose attractions

have been most persuasively and directly brought to their notice.

Hence the hurried rush of American visitors in three or four days

through England if they come at all and their weeks elsewhere.33

Likewise, L.A.L. de Meredith for the Travel Association on the vital issue of publicity:

Confess it to your shame, you must admit that the term (publicity) is

new to you. That is the trouble. On the continent it is not unfam-

iliar to anyone. In America it is equally well known. But within our

shores we have yet to realise its significance and its possibilities.34

For its part, the Railway Clearing House, in January 1926, had proposed a detailed, joint approach to the promotion of Britain and Ireland in America, arguing the compre-

hensive coverage of that country could only be achieved collectively; that a corporate

central office in New York was required and that the four companies should agree to

'sink existing individualities.' 35 But two years later this, and a G.W.R. proposal that the

Big Four companies should establish railway offices on board trans-Atlantic liners for

the advanced distribution of promotional literature, itineraries and railway tickets en

route, was formally rejected. Administrative difficulties, liaison and differing priorities

as in perceived individual styles, reference and imagery, were given against the collec-

tive initiative.36

Whilst it was clearly committed to the joint approach to publicity, delivered through

the Railway Clearing House and the Tourist Association, the G.W.R. was always the

most prolific of the four companies in addressing and developing the American tourist

market. One such strategy was that of the pilgrimage, as indicated earlier.

The G.W.R.'s concept of pilgrimage - broad, in the sense that there were differen-

tiated categories both of interests and encounter - was an extremely successful synthesis

of cultural and commercial interests. At every stage in the promotion of cultural 123 heritage, the company stressed the provision of the highest standards of service. This was by no means confined to material comfort alone, although this was a vital factor. As with the perceived agenda of the Travel Association generally,t he Great Western made every effort to present a detailed literary guide that addressed all dimensions of received protocol, determining not only what was to be seen or experienced but also the perspective - aesthetic, literary or historical, for example - that contextualised the location, experience or event. The company literature invariably presented the maximum American- orientated perspective wherein English history was contextualised within an American agenda. Englishness served to define an American identity celebratory of the increasingly dominant Anglo-Saxon republic. Content, historically, was therefore crucial to the projected identity - effectively, the celebration of the Anglo-Saxon period and, thereafter, the thematically formative sixteenth and seventeenth century narrative - and was delivered in an uncompromising historiographical context of progressive development that, in turn, drove the Manifest Destiny.

In many respects the G.W.R. literature presented the English landscape as one of numerous shrines to early American founders, the language and imagery of commemoration being to the forefront. Thus, 'Rural London' and its depiction of the Chalfont

Country (1924 edition).

Although the average Londoner has shown a greater interest in recent

years in the Chalfont Country, its historic sites have for many years

held high rank in the majority of intelligent American travellers as

places of interest - to the shrine of Thomas Gray at Stoke Poges and

thence past Jordans, the last resting-place of William Penn, Founder

and Proprietor of Pennsylvania -37

This reference is significant for its differentiation; the juxtaposition of "average

Londoners" and "intelligent Americans", likewise, the "recent" interest of the former and the established presence of the latter. Not surprisingly, the sub-text of the American 124 pilgrim as being more sensitive and aware than the native population in terms of

England's historic and aesthetic heritage is apparent throughout the Great Western's literature.

As a landscape of commemoration, Jordans demanded the appropriate representation, as reflected in the definitive imagery and literary style apparent here. 'Places of

Pilgrimage' quoted from the report by the Pennsylvania Society of the Penn

Commemoration in 1911.

The little brick building has no external aspect of ecclesiastical char-

acter; nor has the burial ground beside it any of the dismal monu-

mentation that is so generally distinctive of such places. It is a small

green field, bordered by lofty trees, standing as silent sentinels in

solemn crowded rows watching day and night the hallowed ground

within.38

'Rural London' characterised Jordans as "embossed in forest trees and overrun with jas- mine", whilst the surrounding countryside was that of,

luxuriant woods, expansive commons, limpid streams and fruitful

cornfield, where ancient churches, timbered houses and village greens

form, as it were, a living link between the twentieth century and the

old-world days of "Great Elizabeth."39

In the received imagery of dissent and of commemoration, this depiction of Jordans corresponded to the Great Western's overall presentation of England to America. 'Rural

London' was defined, thematically and stylistically according to the determinants of historical-cultural legacy, rural identification and accessibility.

To complete the reference to pilgrimage and shrine we can refer to two very different styles and representations.

Whitchurch Canonicorum, a small West Dorsetshire village, was featured in all the

American-orientated literature. It was: 125

beyond doubt the only place in the whole world which can claim

the distinction of giving shelter to the remains of a British Saint (St.

Gwen; the Breton St. Blanche) as well as to those of a great Amer-

ican coloniser.40

The latter was Sir George Somers, coloniser of Virginia, in the reign of James I. The teleological context, the given lineal consistency, sealed in effect by latter day

Americans visiting the site, enhances the sense of providence and destiny, definitive of the Anglo-Saxon supremacy.

Plymouth, as a final and sharply contrasting example, had special significance, not only historically but also in terms of past-present interaction. All the appropriate Great

Western literature, particularly 'Glorious Devon', 1928, celebrated the city's identity. It was the supreme example of the gateway to the New World.

Plymouth Sound has the capacity t awaken more memories than any

other place in the world ... It was from here that Martin Frobisher set

out to explore Labrador, and Drake to sail around the world. It was

from here that Raleigh set out for Virginia and the first Puritans in

1607 sailed to find a new land. The stone still stands, and Americans

flock to it, which marks the departure of 101 pilgrims on their sixty

days voyage into the unknown to found the New England.4I

Mais emphasised the significance of place and event with his repetition of the phrase, "It was from here." But, whilst the Anglo-Saxon credentials here required no supplement,

Plymouth provided, yet again, a problematic location in terms of cultural ownership. To re-state the issue: who was accommodating whom? This question has particular resonance when, as here, the Anglo-American relationship is presented in the context of former disputation between the Established Church and that of the dominant interests of dissent in North America, exemplified here by Sir George Somers and William Penn amongst others. The pilgrimage to England was undertaken in order to commemorate 126 traditions which formerly were antithetical to the Anglican-inspired political and religious tradition and which assumed great significance at Plymouth itself. As a vital feature in its Anglo-American appeal, the G.W.R. proudly proclaimed modern Plymouth as the "Gateway into England from the Atlantic Ocean."42 As the first port of call for many of the prestigious trans-Atlantic shipping companies in the inter-war era, Plymouth was the railhead for vast numbers of American tourists eager to get to London in order to embark upon their various pilgrimages: to effectively assert or reclaim their cultural identity, not least on the grounds of their international standing, politically and economically. This was a process intensified substantially in the context of World War Two - the New World coming to the assistance of the Old - a highly charged and complex cultural configuration of decisive importance, historically.

In thematic development we now consider the G.W.R.'s focus upon service within the overall context of pilgrimage.

'Historic Sites and Scenes of England' 1924 edition, the G.W.R.'s first and largest work for the American market, read as a cultural litany, with Paddington as the gateway to a priceless heritage; in fact, to an England effectively presented after the manner of a comprehensive itinerary. The full reference is appropriate here so as to convey the desired effect - the total commitment to service and the wealth of cultural experience offered: two definitive characteristics of Great Western Railway identity. London as the metropolitan centre was also clearly defined.

It is from Paddington that the traveller must start for Royal Windsor

or Oxford, or Bath, or that delightful expedition into Shakespeare's

country which is destined hereafter to become one of the most cher-

ished and agreeable memories of this never-to-be-forgotten English

tour. The very names of Windsor, Oxford, Stratford Upon Avon and

Bath suffice to conjure up visions of those glories and traditions of

which the American and the Englishman are today equally proud. 1 27

If our visitor has a fancy for the folk-lore to remote antiquity, he

can investigate Arthurian Legend in situ, either on the cliffs of

Cornwall, in South Wales, or amidst the rocks of Scilly or in Aval-

onian Glastonbury itself. The student of ecclesiastical history or

Medieval architecture will be able to compress a visit to many of

the famous Cathedrals of England into a fortnight or even less.

Possibly the traveller is specially interested in the battlefields of

history. If this is so, he will be grateful for the information that in

many instances the Great Western Railway passed in close proxim-

ity to notable British, Roman and Saxon earthworks. . . to such cel-

ebrated scenes of Medieval contest as Shrewsbury and Evesham and

to spots which witnessed the fierce fights and sieges of the Civil War,

such as Worcester, Gloucester, Newbury, Oxford and elsewhere.43

Maxwell Fraser's work, 'Shakespeare Lane', (1933 edition) was, together with the literature of London, the most popular of all the G.W.R,. works both as an independent company publication and as a joint initiative distributed through the Four Companies and the

Tourist Association in the thirties. It was also an early choice as the subject for the

"radio broadcasts" across the U.S.A. and Canada. 44 'Shakespeare Lane' was in every sense directed at the North American market. Stratford is quoted here again, not in repetition, but to show, in this instance, the range of quality of service offered - the process being very much part of the overall cultural product. Having asserted the unique cultural legacy of Stratford and its greatest son, Fraser then continued:

The Great Western Railway of England have arranged combined rail

and road tours from London Paddington Station to the Stratford Upon

Avon district, via Leamington Spa, to enable tourists with but little

time at their disposal to see all the chief places of interest in Shake-

speare's Country in one day ... The whole tour only takes ten hours 128

. . . Motor coaches a' wait the tour passengers at Leamington Spa

Station and the journey is continued by road, passing through the

wide tree-lined streets of this delightful Spa. Though completely

modern, Leamington stands on the site of a Saxon village which

must have been visited frequently by Shakespeare in his rambles

through the countryside.45

This was England from the express train and luxury motor coach, with an emphasis upon close organisation and efficiency, ease of access and the highest standards of service. Fraser assured her readers that departure from Paddington guaranteed them the fastest and nearest access to rural England. Moreover, as with the 'Through the

Window' series, the glories of the pastoral English landscape offered added enjoyment, but in one telling paragraph, Fraser set out an interesting, if unintentional contrast, in her evocative rendering of the rural/historical heritage celebrating apparent continuity, she wrote of the view from the train:

Every mile of the way between Paddington and Leamington Spa there

are fertile pasturelands and low-lying, wooded hills ... a graciously

lovely landscape, typical of the scenes which Shakespeare loved,

traversed by Roman and British roadways which were ancient in his

day, and giving glimpses of time-worn churches, no less familiar to

his eyes than the names of the old-world towns and villages through

which the train rushes were to his ears."

In this deliberate marketing strategy of the journey, noted in Chapter One as 'prestige advertising' Fraser registered no note of irony in the juxtaposition of ancient roadways, time worn churches and the impact and speed of the train itself within such a setting.

The express was, by definition, the epitome of modern engineering achievement. This perspective applied equally to the Great Western's concept of the 'Land Cruise' employ- ing first class train travel, luxury motor coaches and the best of hotels, en-route, in the 129 determined quest for rural, historic England. It was the recurrent theme of the interaction of historic community and modern, progressive service, thus London, Oxford and

Stratford were obvious destinations for members of the International Hotel Alliance, visiting England from New York in April 1926. 'The Great Western Railway of England:

Souvenir',47 recorded the event with commemorative copies being presented to the visitors. As in all such prestigious initiatives, dedicated to progressive cosmopolitan reference, two special trains met the S.S. France on its arrival at Plymouth thereby confirming luxury travel throughout, from New York to London. The G.W.R.'s own hotels, likewise, conformed to American expectations and general perceptions of England in their intended combination of the traditional and modern as at Tregenna Castle Hotel, St. Ives.

[Tregenna] unites all the old-world charm of the higher class English

mansion with modern improvements which tend to make hotel life

comfortable and attractive.48

For the trans-Atlantic professional society, increasingly prominent from the later nineteenth century onward, the G.W.R.'s Whig-inspired celebration of the common community of interest and inheritance had considerable cultural resonance. In the comfortable and confident metropolitan perspectives of the 'pilgrim' to England, the shared

Anglo-Saxon tradition could be celebrated, historically, for the qualities of its creative energies and diversities without compromising its dynamic contemporary formulation.

David Lowenthal's presentation of the Whig perspective contextualises the G.W.R.'s idealogical stance and underlines Herbert Butterfield's emphasis upon the Whig tech- nique of substituting historical agency for process.49

Whig historians. . . remade the past into a copy or uplifting simulac-

rum of the present. Unlike nostalgic medievalists, they merged their

chosen period with modern times emphasising points of presumed

resemblance rather than the differences and relishing the enduring

continuities ... Rather than praising the past at the expense of the 1 30

present, they respected it but were not confined by their heritage,

cherished the past while denying it any binding force; they married

belief in continuity with faith in progress. Compromise between

tradition and change was their leitmotiv: change occuring within

the confines of tradition and hence controllable, tradition made mall-

eable by change and hence progressive. The assumed continuity

of English institutions allowed the incorporation even of the most

extensive transformations.50

In constructing its Anglo-Saxon agenda, the G.W.R. literature located the basis of national identity within a closely defined presentation of Tudor (particularly

Elizabethan) and Stuart perspectives carefully correlated with company aspirations and identity and with perceived American expectations.

To refer again to Lowenthal: "To project present experience back magnifies it: to evoke the past makes it over as our own." 51 In the cultural construction of the Anglo-

American relationship, this observation can be seen to apply to both parties. They could simultaneously claim the past as constructed within the Tudor and Stuart context as thematically consistent with the principles of the shared Anglo-Saxon inheritance.

The Southern Metaphor, expressed in its political, social and economic or aesthetic sense, was central to the G.W.R.'s construction of Tudor and Stuart England. Two particular representations - clearly integrated thematically and in terms of progressive historic identity - were decisive in conveying the appropriate imagery and resonance.

These comprised the celebration of a prosperous and pastoral Merrie England and its thematic and structural counterpart, the presentation of England as an expansive, confident maritime nation. The G.W.R. equated the Elizabethan era in particular with that of a

'golden age', of `Merrie England' when "the world was young"52 G.M. Trevelyan, likewise, extolled an Elizabethan golden age in his 'English Social History.'

Shakespeare chanced upon the best time and country in which to live 13 1

in order to exercise with least distraction and most encouragement,

the highest faculties of man. The forest, the field and city were there

in perfection and all three are needed to perfect the fact . . . And

during these same fruitful years of Elizabeth, the narrowing seas amid

whose tempests English mariners had for centuries been trained,

expanded into the oceans of the world . . . Young, light-hearted

England became conscious of itself as an island with an ocean

destiny.53

This construction of the specific English identity as the nation-state was celebrated by the G.W.R. in its definitive Protestant form in the Act of Supremacy, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Henrican castles in line of defence along the south coast against a hostile France and Spain; in Foxe's Book of Martyrs, the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the Elizabethan Settlement in religion. The moderation of the Elizabethan Church was then, and thereafter, contrasted with the perceived fanaticism of Catholic Europe.

Moreover, Protestant England and the institution of the Established Church became a definitive symbol of overall English cultural identity. The Anglican Church was consistently characterised as a principal expression of the community; of continuity and stability and, not least, as a profound emotional-aesthetic experience in the celebration of landscape.

Together with the expression of harmony and continuity, the English Church also provided the overall climate that allowed for the growth of Puritanism and its various constructions of the godly society. In the New England ideal of "The City Upon A

Hill"54 Puritan and Anglican interests in the binary projection of the New World and the

Old contextualised the perceived reforming mission inherent within the Anglo-Saxon identity. In its challenge to the English Church, Puritanism confronted the given structure of authority and governance and, as the history of dissent revels, it carried serious political and cultural resonance in England as, indeed, it did in America. As indicated 132 earlier, definitive themes of the dissenting tradition - most famously the celebration of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth - were given central significance in the G.W.R.'s

American-orientated literature. Likewise, the company ensured that the English

Revolution - the context of the Civil War with all its political and constitutional resonance on both sides of the Atlantic - was presented in an open accommodatory perspective in which all concerned could identify. This explains the equivocal representation of

Crown and Parliament when addressing the issues, events, personalities and locations involved in the literary coverage of the Civil War.

The context and style of the Anglo-American literature was therefore directed by important cultural and commercial considerations. The cultural matrix of politics, law, religion and constitutional issues evident in the historical focus of Tudor and Stuart considerations, indicated both the broad and dynamic historical framework and the G.W.R.'s related inclusive spectrum of ideological perspectives. The company stressed the common tradition. The dynamics of the Crown, landed interests, merchant adventurers and the decisive role of dissent - which ultimately became orthodoxy in American terms - were thematically structured to present the Anglo-American identity as that of a shared tradition subject to the process of accommodation and progressive development. Within this context it can be seen that, from the Puritan protest early in seventeenth century

England to the wider political, constitutional struggle that brought American independence in the later eighteenth century, there was an identifiable thematic continuity. The binary structures of Church and Dissent and Crown and Republic set the terms within which the G.W.R.'s celebration of the Anglo-Saxon identity, mission and destiny was defined.

R.B. Nye and J.E. Morpurgo in 'A History of the United States', 1955, 55 addressed the key themes of this chapter in the formulation of a set of questions defining the structural approach here. Their Introduction refers to Americans as "seeing through the eyes of proud heirs..." [that] appears as the glorious flower which has sprung from the 1 33 wonderful seed of the Thirteen Colonies."56 The imagery here is constructed in terms of a relationship with Britain and thus poses the question of authority and accommodation, appropriation and destiny. Nye and Morpurgo address definitive themes:

How far was America the child of sixteenth, seventeenth and eight-

eenth century Britain? How much was its thought, its social habits,

its economic and political progress conditioned by Cisatlantic events

and the predominantly Anglo-Saxon ancestry of the early settlers?

How much was the eventual break with Britain a rebellion against

British control, or how much was the very Britishness of the ideas

and culture of the Americans responsible for their rebellion against

tyranny which they regarded as incompatible with their Anglo-Saxon

heritage?57

Thus, the central issue in the Anglo-American relationship is again confronted: who was accommodating whom?

Tudor England and the Protestant mission in religious and constitutional issues in the seventeenth century, in turn, looked to Anglo-Saxon precedents for political and cultural authority.58 Likewise, the G.W.R.'s literature drew heavily upon this cultural configuration, putting its shire counties, towns and villages into character parts on almost every page of 'Holiday Haunts', celebrating its Anglo-Saxon heritage, not least, for the gratification of trans-Atlantic interests and for the iconography of the Sons and

Daughters of Empire. Hence the Cotswold material of Chapter Five and Somerset, as

Deep England, in Chapter Nine.

Maxwell Fraser's portrait of Taunton, for example, included all the essential imagery and associations of historic community - harmony, continuity and, thus, a deep sense of identity, that were calculated to appeal to an American market, eager for Anglo-

Saxon credentials.

Founded by King Ina of Wessex in 720... it [Taunton] retains to 134

an extraordinary degree a Saxon atmosphere, for even in modern

times it is essentially an agricultural town ... It suggests the sturdy

independence and placid love of simple, yet ample comfort which

was so marked a characteristic of its Saxon founders and is one of

the friendliest and loveable towns in the Kingdom, welcoming the

visitor and pouring its offering at their feet with al the traditional

hospitality of the Saxon.59

Looking back beyond the Anglo-Saxons, the G.W.R. also offered prehistoric and

Roman dimensions. 'Wessex White Horses' 60 and 'From Caveman to Romans' 6I were two examples of literary works covering the ancient landscape. With the home and

American markets in mind, particularly the latter, 'Through the Window. Paddington to

Killarney', 1926, celebrated Berkshire's Vale Of The White Horse:

The Downs abound in burial mounds, ancient trackways and other

evidences of remote occupation. The railway runs almost parallel

with pre-Roman RIDGE WAY. Such dramatic contrasts of ancient

and modern give us a sense of the wonderful continuity of history

and pre-history in England.62

The Celtic cultural perspective introduced here, and as discussed in Chapter Four, was also incorporated into the G.W.R.'s American-orientated work, the main focus being the celebration of Southern Ireland. Wales and Cornwall were presented as landscapes of dramatic, legendary proportions; of King Arthur and Camelot but, collectively, the

Celtic representation in the American-orientated works was always something of a problematic, complex, cultural configuration, despite its obvious appeal for large numbers of

American visitors. Cultural authority resided in the English-centred literature and was defined, consistently by its concentrated historical identity. The most cursory reference to Maxwell Fraser's 'Somerset', 1934 and 'Southern Ireland', 1932, reveals the respective historical and ahistorical differentiations. 135

This survey has considered the G.W.R.'s historiographical stance, its imperialist

orientation and sympathies and has correlated rural English perspectives with those of

imperial, international focus. The Anglo-American identity has also presented evidence to indicate that, in the company's literature, England and Englishness are frequently defined in relation to other, outside identities and influences. It also would seem to show, paradoxically, that Englishness, as defined in G.W.R. terms, was essentially international, both in the sense of its inspirational qualities - the rural, aesthetic, historical tradition and the interaction with the politics and administration of Empire - and, in relation to

American perspectives, for its role historically - the process wherein the Anglo-Saxon inheritance is its history - hence, the Anglo-Saxon republic.

Finally, in the definitive context of the historical-cultural community, it might be argued that the Anglo-American relationship, as offered by the G.W.R., was itself an exemplification of a form of corporate cultural identity: Macmillan's 'Greeks' to

Kennedy's `Romans' 63 - a re-working of Hellenist perspectives?

The London North Eastern Railway's Anglo-America literature offers a comparative perspective with that of the G.W.R. 'Notes for American Visitors', c 1930, 64 and

'Enjoying England', subtitled, 'A Book About An Enchanted Island, By an American in

London', 1931. 65 celebrated what were considered the timeless and picturesque qualities of the English landscape, presenting a would-be historical characterisation and, crucially, the sense of shared traditions and heritage driving the Anglo-American identity.

England was defined for American sensibilities.

... for thousands of tourists who cross the Atlantic to old England one

or another of these counties has additional attraction of their being

their ancestral homeland. Within their borders there are found quaint

and picturesque old towns and villages whose aspect has undergone

little alteration since the days when the earliest English colonists

settled in New England and, in some of these places, the visitors 136

from overseas may even find the ancient homesteads of their fore-

fathers still standing amid the golden cornfields, russet moors or

murmurous woodlands... The visitor from Massachusetts or

Virginia may tread the same old country roads his ancestors trod

and worship, if he will, in the picturesque old churches in which

they prayed.66

This was similar in its thematic focus and imagery to the G.W.R.'s Anglo-American lit-

erature in looking to the overall agenda of inheritance and identity and was pursued, fur-

ther, in 'Enjoying England'. This book explored the circumstances of what it termed,

'The Happy Paradox'.67 England was "the ancient island ... a strange and unexpected

world ... and yet your first voyage to England is a voyage home." 68 The opening pages

established and indulged this seemingly paradoxical configuration and, as such, like the

G.W.R., addressed the agenda of cultural ownership, authority, appropriation and fulfil-

ment. There were however, two particular differentiating factors that distinguished the

L.N.E.R.'s perspective from that of the G.W.R.

The L.N.E.R. literature was largely impressionistic and fundamentally ahistorical,

engaging the sense of spectacle. It veered between a catalogue of worthy sites - histor-

ical and aesthetic - and a kaleidoscope of people, places and events presented in terms

of dramatic, emotional experience. In many respects, the L.N.E.R.'s stylistic focus in

'Enjoying England' shared similarities with the G.W.R.'s representation of Southern

Ireland and the Celtic construction generally in Mid and South Wales, Cornwall and

Brittany. In both cases - England to an American audience, and Ireland to an English or

Anglo-American readership - the ahistorical focus and the aestheticisation of history,

served notice of an agenda of assumed cultural authority wherein the subordinated ahistorical categorisation nullified alternative challenging representations of identity, as in political, social or economic activity. Whereas, in the G.W.R.'s material, there was a clearly defined historical perspective with, albeit, an ambiguous declaration of cultural 137

authority, the L.N.E.R. work, particularly 'Enjoying England', was constructural and thereby endorsed a landscape of romance, spectacle and pageant,

a different, a fantastic world, full of brave echoes of the past. Full

of unbelievable castles and cathedrals, of inns and lanes and villages

that seem as brightly unreal as a romantic stage setting ... where

the ancient lovely things have made so long a truce with time; where

the scarlet pageant of Romance sweeps so unashamedly through the

smart procession of modern fashionable life.69

Similarly, the cultural perspectives of the Christian tradition in architecture, history and ceremony were reduced to spectacle:

No producer in the world could stage anything more dramatic than

Evensong at Kings College in Cambridge ...7°

The "different, ancient, brightly unreal pageant of Romance, the Enchanted Island," was thus carefully contextualised within a structured, stylised subordination - an inheritance defined in terms of an American agenda.

Most of us in America are stirred by the first soft breeze of England

because in our blood a hundred adventurous ancestors shout their

recognition of the forgotten Homeland. And even apart from that

obscure, racial thrill - why, all of us have lived in England, whether

or not we have been there. London Bridge has fallen down, skylarks

and nightingales have sung. Falstaff and Pickwick have rollicked,

in the brains of us all. ... We know what flowers fringe the Avon at

Stratford, what glades echoed Robin Hood's horn, what winds

`wuther' on the Yorkshire moors. We know our dream - England

well enough!71

As a final reference in this brief survey we can consider the L.N.E.R.'s presentation of Colchester; wherein the structure and style - the eclectic content, the compressed and 138 undifferentiated ahistorical treatment with the imagery and associations of the treasure house of uncoordinated artefacts - denoted the emphasis upon spectacle and immediate sensation. It was a construction that shares close similarities with heritage presentations today, not least for its anticipation of post-modern perspectives.72

I once spent nearly two thousand years in Colchester Castle, though

the clock struck only twice; for I found (imagine it!) that the old

walled Roman Forum had served as a basis for the grim Norman

Keep with its dungeons and stone staircases and, on climbing one

of these, I found myself in a treasure-house of a museum. Roman

toys and jewels, a sinister Viking idol, Saxon slave-rings, medieval

paintings, relics of the Bloody Siege during Cromwell's time - you

can read romances from this Lost Property Office of History.73

The imagery of the Lost Property Office with all its attendant associations of piece- meal collection and the thematic dislocation, the seemingly random, undifferentiated encounter, contrasted with the G.W.R.'s more carefully-structured appeal to American interests. 139

CHAPTER FIVE

Anglo-American Perspectives

1/ Felix Pole 'His Book', Private Circulation, 1954. Town and Country Press, 1968. P204. For an interesting thematic comparison see Stanley Baldwin's Address: "Anglo-American Friendship," April 1925, Published in 'On England And Other Addresses'. PP230-233, particularly P233, Penguin, London. 1939 ed.

2/ J.R. Seeley. The Expansion of England, Macmillan, London. 1883.

3/ A.M. Broadley. Historic Sites and Scenes of England, G.W.R. 1924. ed. P3.

4/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1937 ed. P994.

5/ G.W.R. Shakespeare-Land, 1924, ed. Pl.

6/ Maxwell Fraser. 'England Any Why' G.W.R./S.R. 1932 P1.

7/ Ibid P1

8/ Broadley. Historic Sites/Scenes P9. See John Baylis, 'Anglo-American relations since 1939. The enduring alliance,' Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1997. In particular, his Introduction, 'Issues of episte- mology, methodology and idealogy," PP1-5, wherein the G.W.R.'s perspective is defined in historiographical terms as "Evangelical." This attitude to Anglo-American relations involves 'a sense of mission'. "It is characterised by emphasis upon the sentimental and cultural dimensions of the relationship" P8. Baylis does not, however, offer any detail on the nature and scope of the cultural constructions.

9/ Fraser. England Any Why, 1931 ed. P21.

10/ G.W.R. North Wales. The British Tyrol 1924 ed. P41.

11/ Ibid P45.

12/ G.W.R. Wonderful Wessex, 1908. P14. Celebrations of English national identity as evident here could also be considered in the cultural perspective of, for example, the rival claims to the provenance and architectural superiority of Gothic cathedrals in England and France. Looking back into the early nineteenth century and the existing and ongoing rival claims, the Rev. C.D. Whittington, 140

1811, pronounced on the superiority of the French. "An Historical Survey of the Ecclesiastical Antiquities of France with a view to illustrate The Rise And Progress Of Gothic Architecture in Europe." A direct comparison was offered between Amiens and Salisbury, these being of contemporaneous date and style. Westminster was also included. "That it is a more light and beautiful specimen of Gothic architecture than either Salisbury or Westminster will be allowed by all who have seen it". P192. See also Rheims, P178. Rev. G.D. Whittington. London 1811.

13/ Ibid P12.

14/ Ibid P13.

15/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1936 ed. P122.

16/ Ibid P122.

17/ David Lowenthal. The Heritage Crusade. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1998. "Presentism is seemed integral to England's national legacy. Long accretion proves this heritage was formed with a wish to deal with Englishmen as they are, not just as they were, historian-cleric Mandell Creighton assured readers. What endears the heritage is not its finished form but the long process of forging it. Its potency derives from being both ancient and responsive to present needs." P151. The dialectics of past and present, continuity and adaptation are thus pivotal in terms of the Anglo-American perspectives of cultural authority, identity, assimilation and appropriation. They define the concepts of 'inheritance' and 'mission'. The presentist perspective contextualises Ritchie Ovendale's survey of the theme and literature of 'Rapproch- ement.' See Ritchie Ovendale, Anglo-American Relations In The Twentieth Century, Macmillan Press, London. 1998.

18/ Peter Carroll/David Noble. The Free And The Unfree, Penguin, London. 1977. P309.

19/ Ibid P309 ) In correlating the evident G.W.R. imperialist-inspired principles 20/ Ibid P310 ) here, it is worth noting Felix Pole's - General Manager - assertion 21/ Ibid P310 ) that he was "a great admirer of Cecil Rhodes." 'His Book', P2I3.

22/ M.G. _lessen F.R.G.S. The Bond Of Empire, Sampson, Lou, Marston, London, 1902. Introduction XIV For a more focused American perspectree see also Richard Hofstadter, 'Social In Dap.% inism In American Thought', Chapter Nine: -Racism And Imperialism' passim - American Historical Association, 1944_ Beacon Press, Boston, 1992_ 141

23/ Correlli Barnet. 'The Collapse Of British Power'. Sutton Publishing, Stroud. 1984, P262. See also P287: "By 1929, however, relations between the British and American branches of the great Anglo-Saxon family had deteriorated to the stage of Christmas cards only."

24/ Ibid P262.

25/ D. Cameron-Watt. Succeeding John Bull. America In Britain's Place. 1900- 1975 Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1984. P50.

26/ G.W.R. Magazine, January, 1932. P8.

27/ Lord Hacking. Quoted, Felix Pole, His Book, P205. Douglas Hacking, M.P., Secretary of the Department of Overseas Trade became Chairman of the Association's Executive Committee in February 1929, holding this office until 1950.

28/ G.W.R. Magazine, October, 1935, P560.

29/ British Tourist Authority. The British Travel Association, 1929-1969, London, 1970. P11.

30/ G.W.R. Magazine November, 1931. P469.

31/ Ibid P469.

32/ P.R.O. Rail 1080: 585. 12-9-29.

33/ G.W.R. Magazine June, 1927. P218.

34/ G.W.R. Magazine November, 1931. P469.

35/ P.R.O. Rail 1080-583 5-1-26.

36/ P.R.O. Rail 1080-584 15-5-28.

37/ G.W.R. Rural London, 1924 ed. P16. See also Anthony D. Smith. The Ethnic Origins of Nationals. Blackwell, Oxford, 1986. Chapter Eight: Legends and Landscapes.

38/ G.W.R. Places Of Pilgrimage For American Travellers, 1925 ed. P7.

39/ G.W.R. Rural London, 1924. P6.

40/ G.W.R. Places of Pilgrima ge, 1924. P34. 142

41/ S.P.B. Mais. Glorious Devon. G.W.R. 1934 ed. P73. - See also the earlier 'Devon. The Lovely Land of the Mayflower', G.W.R. 1924. P2. "Much of the history of the Anglo-Saxon race on both sides of the Atlantic is summed up in the inscription inserted in the sea wall at Plymouth." The plaque to the Pilgrim Fathers was dedicated in 1891 - at a time when Anglo-American sentiments of inheritance and destiny were fulsome.

42/ G.W.R. Great Western Railway Docks, 1937. P76.

43/ G.W.R. Historic Sites and Scenes, 1910 ed. P14.

44/ P.R.O. Rail: 1080-587 Minutes 1211 and 1234. British Tourist Authority. The British Travel Association 1929-1969. London. 1970. P5.

45/ Maxwell Fraser, Shakespeare Land, G.W.R./Associated Companies, 1933. Pl.

46/ Ibid Pl.

47/ Great Western Railway of England Souvenir. Log of Special Trains conveying American Members of the International Hotel Alliance from Plymouth to Paddington. April 9, 1926.

48/ G.W.R. Hotels And Catering Services 1937. P6. The Hotels literature was instructive in its conspicuous celebration of the professional ideal as detailed, for example, in Harold Perkin's 'The Rise Of Professional Society', Routledge, London. 1989. In all cases, imagery and association reflected the characteristic representations of affluence, hierarchy and authority and, therein, drew heavily upon historical and received rural-aesthetic constructions. Thus, The Manor House Hotel, Moretonhampstead, Devon with all the attendant perceptions of seeing and being seen. "Completed in 1907, to replication, enlarged in 1935, is a Jacobean replica in stone, with stone mullions, oak window frames and stone-tiled roof, built on broad South and West terraces... In every direction are beautiful views across pleasure grounds and rock gardens falling to a lake and to the River Bovey which flows through the property winding through woods and meadow lands. In the distance are vistas of the incomparable moors. Easdon Tor is within two miles of the house." ibid P41 Fishguard Bay Hotel was celebrated for its luxuriant, exotic gardens resonant of imperial and international reference generally. The carefully landscaped gardens were host to plants and trees from all parts of the world as the company was anxious to emphasise. See G.W.R. Magazine, May, 1938, P199, and the earlier mission statement. - Souvenir of British Empire Exhibition. G.W.R. 1924, P19. 143

49/ Herbert Butterfield. The Whig Interpretation of History, Bell, London. 1931, Pelican Books, London. 1973 ed. P42. "The whig historian is interested in discovering agency in history ... It is characteristic of his method that he should be interested in agency rather than in process."

50/ David Lowenthal]. The Past Is A Foreign Country, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1985. P101. The concepts of process and agency would appear somewhat problematic given Lowenthal's evident explanation of the whig perspective as set alongside his representation of `Presentism' and the Anglo-Saxon inheritance as process. See ref 17. See also Simon James, The Atlantic Celts. James identifies the Celtic traditions as likewise Whig 'inspired'. "The traditional constructed story of the Celts is an example of 'Whig' history." P140.... "It is an eighteenth and nineteenth century reification of people that never existed" P136.

51/ Ibid P48. See also, The Heritage Crusade. Lowenthal, Cambridge, for his reference to rival constructions of early Puritan organisation - The Mayflower Compact of 1628. P149.

52/ Maxwell Fraser, Somerset, G.W.R. 1934. P29.

53/ G.M. Trevelyan. Illustrated English Social History, Longmans, London, 1942/49, Pelican, London. 1964 ed. P15. See also W.G. Hoskins, The Making Of The English Landscape. Pelican, London. 1955. Hoskins' conceptual framework expressed in terms of 'The Flowering Of Rural England', P154, sustained the imagery of a youthful springtime England. Similarly, see S.T. Bindoff, Tudor England, Penguin Books, 1950. Bindoff indicates the vibrant, dynamic character of the English language as a unifying and expansive tool of progress internationally. P24/107.

54/ Daniel J. Boorstin. The Americans: The Colonial Experience, Vintage Books, Random House, New York, 1958, PP3-31.

55/ R.B. Nye and J.E. Morpurgo. A History Of The United States, Two Volumes. Volume One, The Birth Of The U.S.A. Penguin Books, London. 1955.

56/ Ibid Introduction vii.

57/ Ibid Introduction viii. These considerations within the broad spectrum of cultural, political, economic and aesthetic authority and reciprocity - the conventions of duties, obligations and affiliations of early American colonial structures, were well documented in the works of Benjamin Franklin, for example, particularly the pre and post-revolutionary perspectives: The Complete Works in Philosophy, Politics and Morals of the Late Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Second ed. Three Volumes, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme And Brown. And J. Johnson. London 1804.

58/ Lloyd and Jennifer Laing. Anglo-Saxon England, Paladin, London. 1979. P11. 144

59/ Maxwell Fraser. Somerset, P43. See also, Introduction: Berkshire, Wiltshire 'Holiday Haunts', 1937. Barbara Yorke's recent work: 'The Most Perfect Man In History?' 'History Today' Volume 49(10), October, 1999, PP8-14 examines the cultural construction of Alfred as the great English king and the impact of the Anglo-Saxon heritage as interpreted and adapted for political and cultural purposes. Her survey covers the role of Alfred as constructed in cultural politics from the Middle Ages, through to the imperial perspective of Lord Rosebury at the end of the nineteenth century.

60/ D.V. Levien, Wessex White Horses, G.W.R. September, 1923. Several of the White Horse cuts were appropriated culturally and given Anglo-Saxon provenance to obviously boost the historical-cultural resonance of King Alfred and the triumph of English identity. The White Horse at Westbury and the famous White Horse of Uffington, Berkshire were subject to this treatment within the G.W.R. literature.

61/ Edward J. Burrow F.R.G.S. From Caveman to Roman in Britain, G.W.R. C 1924.

62/ G.W.R. Through The Window, Paddington to Killarney, 1926. P36.

63/ J. Dickie. 'Special' No More - Anglo-American Relations. Rhetoric and Reality, London, 1994. PP130-31.

64/ L.N.E.R. Notes for American Visitors. The Holiday Series C. 1930.

65/ B.L. Warde. Enjoying England. A Book About An Enchanted Island, By An American in London. London and North Eastern Railway, 1931.

66/ Notes for American Visitors PP 1-2.

67/ Enjoying England PP 1-4.

68/ Ibid P2.

69/ Ibid Pl.

70/ Ibid P32.

71/ Ibid PP203.

72/ See Representing The Nation: A Reader, Histories, heritage and museums. Ed. David Boswell and Jessica Evans. Routledge, London 1999. See, particularly, Chris Rojek, "Fatal Attractions" PP185-207; John Urry, 'Gazing On History' PP208-232.

73/ Enjoying England P41. 145

CHAPTER SIX The Ocean Coast

'Ocean Coast' and 'Holiday Line' imagery was a firmly established dimension of

G.W.R. identity by the mid-thirties. This was clearly affirmed by the company's choice

of theme and location for its celebrated Centenary poster - '100 Years of Progress, 1835-

1934,' - depicting a west-bound express passenger train running along the shore-line at

the variously named Horse or Shell Cove, near Dawlish in South Devon. It was a care-

fully composed work combining dramatic and contrasting features of land and seascape

that characterised the imagery and stylistic focus of the G.W.R.'s seaside representation.

Numerous 'official' G.W.R. photographs of this and nearby seaside locations further

emphasised the 'Holiday Line' imagery as, indeed, did innumerable other photographers

and illustrators at work along this favoured coastal section of the main line to the West.

Together with this line between Dawlish Warren and Teignmouth, itself approached from

each end by long and dramatic estuary perspectives - the Exe and the Teign - the Great

Western also included several additional coastal line sections to further enhance its

desired seaside character and associations. These comprised extensive and extremely

dramatic sections of the Cambrian Coast, the western end of the Taunton-Minehead line;

South Devon's Goodrington Sands and the final approach to the waterside terminus at

Kingswear (with its G.W.R. ferry to Dartmouth), Mount's Bay in West Cornwall where,

dominated by the spectacle of St. Michael's Mount, the final two miles of the West of

England main-line from Paddington to Penzance followed the shoreline to the Great

Western's most westerly terminus. Finally, and perhaps most spectacular of al such loca-

tions, the branch line from the junction at St. Erth to St. Ives, again, in West Cornwall, exemplified the entire spectrum of Ocean Coast perspectives, from the exhilarating,

dramatic spectacle of cliffside, ocean and extensively sandy beaches to the seclusion of

147 location, its facilities and its celebrated aesthetic qualities. Torbay, in William Gilpin's picturesque rendering of 1798 evoked the classical perspective; the model for all consequent works.

Its general form is femilunar, enclosing a circumference of twelve

miles. Its winding shores on both sides are screened with grand

ramparts of rocks, between which, in the central part, the ground from

the country forming a gentle vale, falls easily to the water's edge.

Wood grows all round the bay even on its rocky sides where it can

get footing and shelter, but in the central part with great luxuriance.

In this delicious spot stood formerly Torre Abbey, the ruins of which

still remain. Wooded hills descending on every side screened and

adorned it both behind and on its flanks. In front the bay opening

before it spread its circling rocky cheeks like a vast collonade letting

in all the pleasing forms of perspective and receiving all the variety

of light and shade which the sun throws upon them.'

Torquay also offered a litany of distinguished visitors and residents, past and present, this being vital to the overall characterisation. Lord Nelson, Napoleon, as a cap- tive, Queen Victoria, The Duchess of Sutherland and —Princess Louise, likewise,

Tennyson and Charles Kingsley were listed as distinguished visitors. An early Ward-

Lock guide of 1897 wrote of the town as "The Italy of England" and, like Gilpin, drew upon picturesque references for 'Glorious Devon.'

The first view of the town is usually obtained from the road leading

from the station. Turning the corner that leads into the marine drive

that skirts the waters of Torbay, the scene cannot fail to win admira-

tion and 'lovely' is the adjective that is suggested by the first glimpse

of this terraced town, ensconsed, like Rome, on seven hills and

embowered in trees and flowers that would do credit to the Pincian 148

Gardens. Tier above tier rise mansions and villas each in its own

grounds and built in excellent taste so that the eye wanders over the

scene without being arrested by any jerry-builders folly and takes in

at a glance the whole panoramic view.2

The 1904 edition of 'Seaside Watering places' described Torquay as the rightful recipient of both "Nature and Art, prodigal in their gifts." 3 Imagery was invariably feminine as in the following extract from Worth's 'Tourist Guide to South Devon.' 1878.

Torquay is regarded as the queen of watering places... Seen from

some well chosen eminence under a glowing sky, Torquay is more

like a domain in fairy land than any portion of this work-a-day world.

Truth to tell, there is a good deal of the lotus-eaters about many of

its inhabitants.4

The Ward-Lock Guide for 1897 similarly referred to Torquay as:

A lovely queen of some sunny southern land who has been transpor-

ted from her native environment and set down in a far-off land.5

Exclusive imagery prevailed, the essential ethos of the resort being further clarified in the G.W.R.'s 'Devon, Shire of Sea Kings,' 1904.

Minstrel entertainments and other kinds of beach shows find no

favour in the eyes of those who are responsible for the social success

of Torquay. On the other hand, yachtsmen, golfers, cricketers and

oarsmen find themselves in a place where provision has been made

for every kind of sport. Hunting is available and anglers can choose

between lake, river and sea.6

Mais drew upon definitively feminine characterisation in 'Glorious Devon', 1928,7 emphasising successive revelatory perspectives that progressively ordered or structured the visitor's appreciation of the aesthetic encounter.

Torquay unveils her beauties very gradually. It is not from the rail- 149

way which is tucked away unobtrusively that her particular glories are

to be seen. Built like Bath and Rome on seven hills, her full majesty

is not to be realised unless perhaps from the sea or the height of her

new reservoir. Each separate arc of beauty is self contained and

individual. Here is no hard glittering ruler of a grand promenade,

going endlessly, tirelessly on until it emerges into the grander no less

straight and tiring promenade of the next resort. Instead you find

yourself in the cleft of a vast bay where you may see without being

seen. The high rocks stretching down to the front are hidden in a

forest of wonderful exotic palms and flowers which seem to flourish

nowhere but here.8

From the explicit reference here to "her beauties", Mais presented what was clearly a perspective of carefully organised, but privileged aesthetic revelation. The subtle unveiling, the sense of shared intimacy in an initiate personal encounter, the contrast of sensuous curves - "each separate arc of beauty" - with "hard glittering ruler lines," elsewhere, the imagery of "exotic palms and flowers" and the romantic association with the seven hills of Rome evoked the unique ethos of this "Queen of Watering Places." 9 The entire presentation of Torquay as set out here exemplified the collective cultural spectrum of fashionable imagery and its stylistic expression. As Alain Corbin has observed of the exclusive seaside society:

The manner of being together, the complicity amongst tourists, the

signs of recognition and the procedures for making distinctions also

determined the means of enjoying this place. The ways in which time

was used and space constructed were shaped by the forms of sociab-

ility that were organised and then spread across the seaboards. The

range of distractions, pleasures and obligations that resulted dictated

the form of the seaside holiday" 150

Torquay's overall identity was further enhanced in its status as a winter resort and, in this guise, the Great Western determined upon form Continental parallels, offering an atmosphere of highly privileged and exclusive social and cultural representation.

'Winter Resorts on the G.W.R.', 1925 edition, provided the detail:

In addition to being one of the best pleasure resorts in Europe,

Torquay has rapidly come into the forefront as the Premier Marine

Spa. The Medical, Electrical, Turkish, Tepid and Salt Water Swim-

ming Baths are replete with all the latest British and Continental

methods of Spa Treatments...II

As ever in the strictly hierarchical society served by the G.W.R., the clientele were assured of the highest standards of service, commensurate with social distinctions:

The Baths' Staffs of Masseurs and Masseuses are highly trained and

patients for whom any form of Treat ment has been prescribed can

rely on having all their requirements fully met... The Winter visitor

need never have a dull moment. All the entertainment houses are

open and the Hotel Proprietors are never weary in catering for the

absolute comfort and enjoyment of their guests.I2

The fact that post-war British Railways' editions of 'Holiday Haunts', as recent as

1959, continued to stress the provision of medicinal baths - "Aix and Vichy douches,

Navheim vapour," and other such treatments - testified to the substantive character of

Torquay as the Great Western's supreme expression of the hierarchically-defined, exclusive resort.I3

The South Hams district of South Devon, the land bounded on the north by the

G.W.R. main line from Totnes to Plymouth and on the south by the Channel coast, offered further exclusive imagery. 'Devon, The Shire of Sea Kings' left the reader in no doubt as to the character and charm of the area with its blend of coastal landscape, winding estuaries and deeply rural inland villages. In its content and style here, the G.W.R. 151

offered up a litany of Englishness delivered in the commercial-cultural focus of deter-

mined place selling.

Rocky Headlands, precipitous cliffs, pleasant coves, strangely shaped

creeks often reaching far inland with octopus-like branches, sunlined

laps of golden sand, fruitful orchards, giant elms and oaks, hedgerows

aglow with wild flowers, smiling meadows and sequestered coombs

where lemons and oranges ripen in the open air and blue hydrangeas

lie in masses under the trees - such are some of the distinctive features

of the fertile South Hams. Picturesque villages, interesting churches,

creeper-covered cottages and venerable manor houses, old world

inns and an abundance of legend and folk-lore add materially to the

attractions with which generous nature has endowed this particular

portion of the Devon Riviera.I4

As ever, in conveying the received imagery of rural England, the company also stressed the easy access to the area. The Kingsbridge branch from Brent, on the maitk line, wandered south through delightful communities such as Loddiswell, Gara Bridge and Avonwick to the small market town of Kingsbridge, described by Mais as a place where "the sea just stops at the foot of the town." 15 G.W.R. bus services linked the countryside beyond the railway, a popular location being that of Salcombe. 'The Tourist

Guide to South Devon,' 1878, recommended the river as the best means of reaching

Salcombe, adding: "If Salcombe were better known and more readily accessible it would have no lack of visitors." 16 The Ward-Lock guide of 1897 accounted for the location in forthright manner: "The Englishman's love of the sea is sufficient explanation of the growth of Salcombe." I7 "Squeezed between the hillside and the water," 18 it was presented in terms of Mediterranean perspectives, synonymous with the French or Italian

Riviera.

Here the aloe and agave blossom, oranges, lemons and citrons flourish 152

in the open air, and fushias grow to trees. The dianthus, blue gum

tree, myrtle and camelia are common in every garden. No less than

eighteen varieties of ferns are found growing wild in the neighbour-

hood of Salcombe and rare specimens of butterflies are found here.19

As with the previous passage from 'Shire of Sea Kings', this depiction underlined the strong sensation of colour and variety, making a direct appeal to the senses and the appreciation of rich fertility and abundance. It was such as this that later inspired

Maxwell Fraser's open celebration of Devon's particular qualities of "pulsating colour and life," and the prevailing sense of Englishness that defined it in her declaration:

"Devon is a state of mind."20

'Care-Free Democracies'

In identifying the popular family resorts, those of the "care-free democracy" 21 as the company put it, Paignton, Porthcawl, Weymouth and Weston-Super Mare were the leading contenders. Whilst focusing upon Paignton and South Devon, it is useful for comparative reference to record Great Western perspectives on these other listed resorts.

Weston will be included in the later case study on Somerset.

Weymouth was undoubtedly a family resort. The company brochure of 1934 entitled: 'Bring Your Children to Weymouth, Queen of the Lovely Dorset Coast' was perfectly explicit. "Children love Weymouth. There is no 'stiff and starchiness' to dry up their spirits"22 'Holiday Haunts' noted "any new invention for keeping holiday makers happy and amused will speedily find its way to the town."23

Porthcawl, variously regarded as "The Gem of the Severn Sea," "The Brighton of

Wales," or "The Blackpool of Wales," 24 devoted itself to tourism and the unrestricted

pursuit of diverse recreation. The codified reference in 'Holiday Haunts', 1929 declared

of the resort: "It has fashioned its resources to modern ideas," 25 but in less diffident

style, the town brochure of the late thirties, entitled, 'Coney Beach Britain's Coney

Island,' offered endless scope for modern amusement. Described as, "Bang up to the 153

minute,"26 the amusement park comprised some thirty or so special attractions ranging

from pleasurable interest to thrilling abandon. 'Holiday Haunts' 1939, recorded

"Porthcawl's sole industry is catering for visitors and the indoor and outdoor entertain-

ments and amusements so generously provided are now open on Sundays as well as

weekdays."27 'Holiday Haunts' also noted considerable investment in promenade

amenities, the Grand Pavilion, gardens, sports, pavilion and children's playground. To

supplement the prevailing family imagery of the resort, the G.W.R. also stressed that the

sand dunes at Porthcawl were of special interest. Making a familiar reference to

European equivalents, 'Holiday Haunts' observed: "the sand dunes pile up at some points to over 200 feet and are only rivalled in the whole of Europe by those of Kurische

Nehruna in East Prussia." 28 There were, conspicuously, no Celtic properties of other-

ness, mystery and the landscape of the sublime attributed to the resort.

Unlike comparable resorts of the South Coast promoted by the Southern Railway,

Paignton did not receive any extended coverage in the pre-war 'Holiday Haunts.' But through the inter-war era, like Weston-Super-Mare, it had firmly established itself as one of the G.W.R.'s foremost family resorts, clearly distinct from Torquay in its overall character and appeal. One of the best publications on Paignton between the World Wars was the coloured brochure of 1937, Paignton. Glorious South Devon'. It was forthright in the expression of gratuitous enjoyment and of service.

Paignton is tireless in studying the needs of its visitors and residents

and endeavouring to anticipate their every want... Holiday makers

delight in its many natural attractions and in its continual round of

amusements, and especially its constant care for the happiness and

safety of the children for, although Paignton has a long history, it

takes more pride in its progressiveness than in the events of the past.

It has developed into a family resort, meeting the family holiday

needs so successfully that its visitors gain the impression that the local 154

authority must consist of exceptionally amiable and understanding

family men."29

The front cover of the brochure, with its curly-haired child in bright red beachwear playing on the sand with a beach ball, has become a potent image of seaside England.

Post-War coverage was enthusiastic and detailed, consolidating the family format.

'Holiday Haunts' for 1947, the last edition under Great Western ownership, stressed the attractions on offer, much of it relating to the municipal enterprise of the mid thirties with the development of former marshland at Goodrington. 313 Building on the reputation for its excellent beaches and bathing facilities, Goodrington Park and related developments

- gardens, boating lakes, promenade, cafe, car park (a railway halt was opened in 1928 and substantially developed in the post-war years) - were completed in May 1936 at a cost of £54,000. It was ceremonially opened by Sir Robert Home, Chairman of the Great

Western Railway on the 23rd of that month. 31 'Holiday Haunts,' 1947 reported on

Paignton, enumerating its many family attractions and underlining the broad, popular appeal of the resort. Two holiday camps were also advertised in 'Holiday Haunts,' further reinforcing the image.

It is run on modern lines with fine hotels on the sea front, spacious

promenades laid out with lawns and flower beds and long stretches

of sand on which there are rows of bathing huts and tents. Preston

foreshore continues the main Paignton sands and Preston Green, a

pleasure ground of about 10 acres, affords ample space for playing

games. A short walk past the harbour beach to the splendid Goodring-

ton Sands. Just prior to the war £54,000 was spent on improvements

at Goodrington, which included new cliff gardens, promenades, pro-

vision of additional sites for seaside cabins and huts and up-to-date

bathing stations, putting greens, a large boating lake, model yacht

ponds, a Peter Pan playground, attractive cafes and tea gardens and 155

beautifully laid out flower and rose gardens and shrubberies.32

Paignton also offered a zoo with the added attractions of rare tropical plants and flowers and the inevitable 'toy railway' for children. the L.M.S. also advertised extensively on behalf of the resort, stressing the numerous through trains from the Midlands and the

North and emphasising its prestigious "Devonian" service in its holiday manual.

'Holiday by L.M.S.', Torbay being a favoured destination for tourists from the Midlands and North Country.33

Torbay was the focus of the 'English Riviera', offering a cross-section of tourist

attractions as indicated. This 'English Riviera' of South Devon with its attempted

Mediterranean association, was a specific, unified district that made policy, co-ordina- tion and implementation a much easier task than that for the 'Cornish Riviera'. The latter was much less clearly defined, geographically and structurally. Cornwall's Riviera

was more of a county concept, a broader based, less co-ordinated conception with a sub-

stantially smaller and much less affluent population which also suffered the disadvan-

tage, therefore, of having less resources at its disposal. It was also significantly further

away from the principal sources of a visiting population - London, the Midlands and

North of England. Travel times were longer and the expenses involved inevitably high-

er. Moreover, the season itself was more sharply circumscribed than that of its Devonian

neighbour. Torquay, in particular, had a long established record as a tourist resort, more

so than any of the Cornish locations; it was far more affluent, significantly larger and

had enjoyed the patronage of the influential and resident Palk family who, as landown-

ers, had played a large, active and consistent role in cultivating the town as a distin-

guished, exclusive resort.

Teignmouth provided a useful example of what could be achieved by the smaller

coastal resorts of South Devon when the local corporation invested directly in the resort.

The active decision of resorts such as Teignmouth and Paignton to invest heavily in the

provision of tourist amenities marked a further distinction between the character and 156 approach of the Devon resorts and those of neighbouring Cornwall. The latter depend- ed very largely upon the natural attractions of the district and the provision of broad based entertainment other than that at Newquay was far less apparent. This situation was a specific and familiar point of contention between the G.W.R.'s Publicity Department and local authorities in Cornwall.

Whilst it criticised the perceived lack of popular entertainments within the Cornish tourist industry, the G.W.R. Magazine, in August 1938, carried a detailed report on the progressive nature of Teignmouth. 34 Together with the installation of a new scheme for mains drainage and new water mains to ensure basic public health, the corporation focused upon attractive tourist amenities. Non-dazzle paving slabs were laid on the promenade, these being in cliff-red and buff to harmonise with the natural landscape.

The promenade was supplemented visually by the provision of grassed plots, shrubberies, rockeries and sunken gardens that were floodlit at night. Tennis courts, bowling greens, a pavilion and a model yacht pond were provided to the rear of the promenade.

Here, too, were floodlit rockeries and flower beds. Teignmouth was declared to be "particularly suitable for the family man and, with its mild climate, it is especially suitable for permanent residence or for those returning from overseas." 35 It was estimated that the town had invested £100,000 over a five year period in developing tourism. Thus

Teignmouth reflected all the style and amenities that characterised the smaller English

seaside resort. In not looking to cultivate an exclusive identity, Teignmouth flourished

as a moderately sized family resort which, after the style of the Southern Railway's

South Coast perspective, pursued the democratic characterisation that defined so much

of the myth of inter-war seaside England.

The Cornish experience, by contrast, approximated to a more individualistic style,

stressing the unique qualities of its seaside experience in line with the prevailing sense

of the county's overall and essentially unique image, nationally. Of all the extensive

coastline served by the Great Western, Cornwall was considered to be the Ocean Coast 157 at its best.

The Ocean Coast climate is most perfectly exemplified in Cornwall

because that county is almost entirely surrounded by sea. Unless it

comes straight down the one neck of land, every wind must be a sea

wind, tempered by the watery expanse over which it has passed.36

If Cornwall best represented the company's coastal seaside imagery generally, then

Newquay was unique amongst the Great Western's Cornish resorts: it was not only the largest within the county, it was the only one where economy and identity was linked totally to tourism. 'Holiday Haunts' asserted "... with its facilities for sports and amuse-

ments, Newquay hardly needs the attraction of history to enhance its already enormous

popularity."37

'Winter Resorts for the Great Western', 1934, stressed that Newquay had "that air of

carefree disregard of more stringent conventions which makes a holiday in Cornwall

such a joyous affair",38 whilst Mais in 'The Cornish Riviera', 1928, had underlined the

resort's prevailing family identity.

Day after day in hot weather whole families troup down on to these

vast beaches immediately after breakfast laden with bats, balls and

luncheon baskets and papers and towels and stay there until the sun

has set over the bay. These may lay no claim to know Cornwall, but

they may certainly lay claim to getting the best out of Newquay.39

In line with its popular, recreational image, totally identified with the sea, Newquay was

also celebrated as "one of England's chief centres for surf bathing ."40

Ocean Coast perspectives were pursued at St. Ives itself and for the G.W.R.'s

Tregenna Castle Hotel at the resort. Mais wrote of the town in 'The Cornish Riviera':

"It is doubtful whether there is a more popular seaside resort in England. There is an

impression of life, colour, movement everywhere." 41 From the palmed surroundings of

St. Erth, the junction with the main line, through the waterside station at Lelant and the 158 cliff-side location of Carbis Bay, to the terminus, immediately above Porthminster

Beach, no other railway journey on or beyond the Great Western system, was said to offer such varied and dramatic perspectives of coastline, seascape or seaside itself. In the absence of an official G.W.R. account of the branch line journey, 'The Homeland

Handbook: St. Ives, Carbis Bay and Lelant',42 offered its version, illustrating the text with official Great Western photographs.

This branch line from St. Erth to St. Ives is such as to make the trav-

eller rejoice at the glimpse it affords of the pleasant places among

which his days are to be spent. But to get this view in all its beauty,

choose a corner seat on the right of the carriage facing the engine.43

Carbis Bay was the epitome of the 'Ocean Coast' perspective, the small coastal location dedicated to residential identity and seaside activity. 'Holiday Haunts' noted the increasing numbers of cliffside residences, "built with an appreciation of their setting"44 and the general contemporary nature of the community - All Saints Church was

consecrated in 1929 - all of this reflecting the character and spirit of 'Ocean Coast'

ideals.

The numerous references to residential status carried in 'Holiday Haunts', particu-

larly those relating to Cornish and Devonian locations, were developed into a fully

focused theme in the G.W.R.'s publication, 'The Ocean Coast', 1924. 45 This book, in

many ways a coastal version of 'Metroland',46 or the G.W.R.'s 'Rural London', put

heavy emphasis upon the residential perspective. Ocean Coast imagery was a blend of

the ancient or traditional, with modern styles. It was a direct reflection of the urban/rural

accommodation prominent in the Great Western literature by the thirties.

Coastal communities - Carbis Bay, Marazion, St. Agnes, Perranporth, Carlyon

Bay, Looe, Whitesand Bay, as examples, by no means all - from locations all round the

Cornish coast, serve to illustrate from this one county alone, the decisive thrust of this

concept. The essential message had two vital dimensions. Firstly, the extremely 159 positive quality of healthy environment.

To live where the sun and soft air are, imparts a new flavour and

relish to the whole of life. We begin again to see life clear and see it

whole ... Hand in hand with this comes a physical change every bit

as wonderful. Nerves are soothed and steadied, tissues cleared and

revitalised by sun and wind. Soon you begin to get that sound sleep

each night that you thought belonged to youth alone.

The whole of life becomes as sweet as a hazel nut.47

The second dimension was that this quality of life required no sacrifice at all and in this reassurance we find all the salient features of modernity, progress and technology, discussed earlier, that helped define the return to nature in its rural or coastal identity.

Convenience was a key-note:

It must be insisted that there is nothing you have to give up to obtain

these benefits. There is no need to sacrifice the hard won spoils of

the ages, no need to go back to the simple - but convenient - life, to

obtain the manifold blessings of an ocean climate.

On the ocean coast you can live in a town with wide, well-paved

streets, where the shops, the restaurants and theatres are as modern

as any inland. There are seaside concert halls where the greatest

musicians of the day perform."

Continuing the theme of modern convenience, we read:

Today the tiniest hamlet on the Cornish coast is so linked up with the

great world ... by railway and bus, by post and newspaper, by tele-

phone and wireless, that you can live there without sacrificing any

of the social enjoyment, the culture, or the intelligent interest in the

affairs of the world that you rightly set such store by.49

In final reference to overwhelmingly comfortable urban perspective defining the 160

'Ocean Coast', the book offered a scenario of the ideal existence; variously, that of lotus- land or Metroland-By-Sea.

You can enjoy it all in the soft warm air that gently stirs the palm

trees in your garden. You sit and watch the changing face of the

waters and listen to the calling of the sea birds. Dusk falls but you

still sit on in your garden - for it is warm on the ocean coast. The

view fades, you turn a switch and over the wireless comes a classic

concert, an opera perhaps, as clearly as if you were sitting in the hall

where it is being played, with its advantage - you are enjoying the

delicious Atlantic air.

Later, the news of all the world is heard. You switch off and, leaving

the star-studded canopy of heaven, seek your bed, to sleep the sound

sleep of an Ocean Coaster.50

This self-consciously suburban perspective, closely identified with the Southern

Railway's synthesis of urban and rural dimensions, was a very definite expression by the

G.W.R. of a progressive reformulation of the concept of Englishness to include urban imagery, this being particularly so in relation to seaside interests. The seaside or 'Ocean

Coast', whatever the designation, was invariably presented in more dynamic, contemporary perspectives than that of rural England and this extract, above, from 'The Ocean

Coast' illustrates in its sharp contrast with rural, historical representations, the differentiated nature of Great Western literary expression and style according to subject and expectation. This was manifestly not the case with the Southern Railway in the South

East, where the relationship between cultural perspectives - urban and rural, past and present and popular and exclusive - was presented much more so in terms of a synthesis, suggesting a more apparent contemporary characterisation on the part of the

Southern. (See further discussion in Chapter Eight.) But the popularist style and presentation of the Southern Railway did not go unnoticed in G.W.R. circles. The 1934/35 161 session of The G.W.R. (London) Lecturing and Debating Society included a specific criticism of company Style in the debate: "Railway Publicity", 18 October 1934.51

Responding to G.E. Orton, the Commercial Assistant to the Superintendent of the Line,

G.R. Penny called for more lively, dynamic, humorous presentation. He specifically tar- getted the travel literature.

Take travel literature. Mr. Orton has said that we have produced

three new books and I have no wish to criticise these. They are

excellent. ['The Cornish Riviera': 'Glorious Devon' - Mais and

Somerset', Maxwell Fraser]. There are, however, others which are

not so good and which are, to my mind, stodgy. I look around at the

travel literature published by other railway companies and find books

being written by such men as Leigh-Bennett and Dell Leigh. Some-

how their styles are more attractive, more friendly than ours. I do not

know if it would be possible to get a little more of that friendliness

into our own literature.52

The 'friendly', accessible representation advocated here carried considerable, even vital, commercial import which, by the thirties and in the context of evident competition, cautioned the G.W.R. to temper, somewhat, its evident exclusively defined cultural

imagery. Cornwall offered an ideal example in terms of challenging perceptions and received identities, not least for the dynamics that defined the relationship of railway

with resort. Paddington at the Seaside

Whilst the criticism of 'stodginess' might well have applied, by the thirties, to some

of the more exclusively focused rural and historical presentations, the Great Western's

'Ocean Coast' perspective, as detailed above, revealed an alternative approach. This

was apparent in the details and character of both the advertisements for the progressive

development of seaside resorts on the G.W.R. system and the company's direct involve- 1 62 ment with the resorts via the local chamber of commerce.

Good relations with the chambers were considered vital by the General Manager himself, Felix Pole was unequivocal. Under his terms of reference, the chambers presented ideal opportunities for 'propaganda' as he defined the concept.

I regard propaganda as the means of promoting good feeling towards

the company; of making its good points known by more subtle means

than that by advertising or general publicity.53

Citing the range of these 'subtle means' - the historically focused literature, jigsaws, newspaper articles etc - Pole continued:

Another most valuable piece of propaganda was provided by meeting

Chambers of Commerce, Chambers of Trade, Business Clubs etc...

.. Chambers were glad to meet the man whose name appeared at the

bottom of the posters etc.54

The final statement is, again, indicative of the centre-periphery orientation and this theme is pursued here by direct reference to Cornwall, indicating the determinedly contemporary focus of G.W.R. interests in tourism at Newquay and Penzance and the extent to which the local communities co-operated.

The general statement of progress at resorts across the company network carried in the G.W.R. Magazine, July 1935, for example, put the emphasis upon modern attractions, marking an up-beat, popular approach.

Reports from the resorts both large and small, show how extensive

and varied are the improvements this year. There are to be more

swimming pools, band-stands, sports grounds, parks, illuminations,

places of amusement, dance halls, cinemas, tennis courts, bowling

greens and golf courses; and the purchase by local councils of beauty

spots and open spaces will ensure these being preserved for the ben-

efit of holiday makers.55 163

It was significant that these were active amenities, clearly dedicated to large-scale popular participation and were thus distinguished from the exclusive, initiate perspectives that so often defined the rural, historical presentation. Good relations with the relevant local interests were vital here.

G.W.R. involvement with local chambers of commerce reflected the direct influence of Paddington within the local community and, in particular, the focus and degree of company interest in determining and implementing the particular agenda. Using material from Cornish case studies it is clear that, whilst the G.W.R. pursued a consistent policy in terms of management, focus and commercial objective, the resorts, as exemplified here by Newquay and Penzance, observed no common policy and commitment with regard to tourism. In contrast with the sharp focus and consistency characterising the

G.W.R..'s corporate identity, Newquay and Penzance, both significant holiday termini of the G.W.R. reflected contrasting, and in the case of Penzance, ambivalent responses in matters of marketing and commercial investment. Newquay was the more noticeably innovative resort and was, accordingly, more attuned to G.W.R. aspirations and objec- tives. A study of the proceedings at the annual meetings of the respective chambers of commerce suggests that at Penzance, in particular, the Great Western looked for a considerably stronger commitment to tourism.

A comparison between the two resorts and of the consequent attitude of the G.W.R. was offered in the reports of the Annual Meetings of the chambers of commerce at

Penzance and at Newquay in 1928. The former was held in the January, the latter in mid-

March. At Newquay it was revealed that, for the 1928 season, 'The Newquay

Advertising Committee', formed in 1926, intended to raise from £800 to £1,000 with the

G.W.R. contributing an equivalent sum. Advertisements were to be placed in leading

Northern, Midland and London based newspapers whilst the resort distributed (1927)

5,000 copies of the 'Homeland Association' handbook, with the aim of doubling this

amount in 1928. Furthermore, in a co-production with the G.W.R. the resort commis- 1 64 sioned 2,000 "Newquay" posters and produced 20,000 leaflets.56

At Penzance there was a somewhat different story. Addressing the Chamber, F.R.

Davis, Secretary of the G.W.R. offered the following unequivocal statement;

In 1927, when we launched out on a bigger advertising campaign on

the West of England than we have ever done before, we ploughed a

lonely furrow, I am told, and had no help from the Penzance Chamber

of Commerce. That is regrettable.57

It was further stated that, unlike many other resorts and localities on the G.W.R. system,

Penzance had not shown any record of seasonal progress and development.

As the guest of Truro, Newquay and Redruth chambers of commerce in March

1929, the G.W.R. General Manager, Sir Felix Pole, demonstrated an evident sense of frustration and impatience with various crucial aspects of the tourist business in

Cornwall. He was critical of the obvious competition that characterised the conduct and structure of tourism. Highlighting important continental practice, he called for similar co-operative development within the county and, whilst welcoming the Come to

Cornwall Association,58 formed that year, he nevertheless lamented that it was "twenty years too late."59 Pole was also heavily critical of the range and standard of accommodation offered within the county. As part of his general message he declared:

I am aware that many Cornish boarding houses are being enlarged

and improved, but it is a pity that many could not be blown up and

entirely rebuilt.60

Pole further stressed the need of more organised, all-weather amenities and felt that generally the county relied too heavily upon its natural resources, extensive though they were. Newquay's hotels and their promotion were, however, generally the subject of

G.W.R. approval.

Advertising and local enterprise was the consistent message from the Great Western to the Cornish resorts. This was abundantly evident in the proceedings at Newquay and 165

Penzance. The meeting of the Chamber of Commerce at Penzance in late January, 1938, where F.R. Potter, Superintendent of the G.W.R. and Major Dewar of the Publicity

Office were included amongst the distinguished guests, carried specific reference to the subject of publicity. Reporting the meeting, the local newspaper, 'The Cornishman', wrote of the G.W.R. representatives:

They impressed most forcibly, yet in a quiet business-like manner

the necessity of Penzance embarking upon an enterprising policy in

regard to tourist traffic.61

The Superintendent reminded the Chamber that the Great Western had invested

£134,000 in connection with the new terminus then under construction and added; "it was for Penzance to respond." 62 Potter went on to make a direct appeal to the local authority and to the chamber of commerce in particular, with directed designations, as in

"we" and "you".

With all the potentialities of this district don't you think you might as

a Chamber of Commerce arrange it and go for a little more publicity.

We are only too anxious to help you and make this extreme part of

Cornwall the most popular place in the country ...

Over and above all I want to try to instill in your minds, the ideal of

development, progress and, in so far as the G.W.R. is able to assist,

we are only too happy to do what we can.63

The evident repetition of willingness on the part of the G.W.R. to give assistance and advice was, not least, borne out of the impatience felt by the company as to the lack of local initiative, given the potential in West Cornwall. The diplomatic representations here scarcely concealed the thrust of company-directed policy - the Superintendent's message being a clear reference to expectations at Paddington - to the requirement that the resorts fulfil the 'Ocean Coast' identity. At successive annual meetings the G.W.R.'s various representations had invited the chambers of commerce to consider 166 comparative developments elsewhere, casting less than favourable light upon much of

Cornwall's collective record. Bournemouth and Torquay, although obviously much larger than any Cornish resort, were held up as exemplars of modern, dynamic enterprise and it was pointed out, in 1934, that Bexhill-on-Sea, comparable in size to Penzance - but by that time far more affluent and accessible - was spending £100,000 on improvements.64

Paddington's priorities were made clear. Major Dewar for the company's publicity department, drew attention to the Great Western's extensive campaign, then underway, to lengthen the holiday season by encouraging earlier holidays in May, June and early

July, and in September, to avoid the congestion and difficulties imposed by the traditional recourse to late July and August. The introduction of the Holiday With Pay Act,

1938,65 added to the call for a more manageable season and for the greater provision of popular entertainment by the resorts themselves. This last point featured heavily in the

Superintendent's speech to the Chamber. Combining themes of entertainment and accommodation, he asserted the Great Western's perspective with the definitive 'we' and

'our' - the metropolitan standard of reference and expectation that clearly identified and differentiated centre and periphery.

There is no place I know of in the country which is more amenable

to a winter resort than Penzance, but what you lack at the moment is

entertainment to attract our visitors. We want to see that your hotels

and accommodation are adequate for our visitors.66

There were clear echoes here of Felix Pole's earlier criticisms of accommodation and the vital infrastructure of public health - water supply and sanitation to a better than adequate standard.

Messrs. Potter and Dewar were also the guests of the Newquay Chamber of

Commerce at the annual meeting at the Headland Hotel in mid February, 1938. They were joined by S.P.B. Mais, known in Cornwall and across the G.W.R. system for his literary work on behalf of the company. He provided the thematic focus and thrust for the 167 meeting in his emphasis upon the celebration of Cornwall's unique identity and, impli- cation, its significant commercial potential. Set in creative contrast with England and

Englishness, Cornwall exemplified the experience of 'difference at your doorstep' - a characterisation which the Great Western had pursued in its literature and in its poster- work since 1904. The normative character and style of Mais' address to the local community was indicative of the G.W.R.'s corporate, centralist perspective, little short of a directive.

There is an intense desire on the part of the public to do something

quite different - You must trade on this business of your being half

foreign to England. Let this strangeness once you are on the Western

side of the Tamar have its place.

It is this very strangeness that you want at the present moment to cater

for and allow the English mind to prey upon, not only the coast but

the inland part of Cornwall which is so worthwhile exploiting.67

In acknowledging the guiding influence and, therein, the dominant role of the Great

Western Railway in the development of Newquay, the local Chamber also recorded that the G.W.R. had "taught them the value of advertising. " 68 Without doubt, Newquay became the Great Western's most important resort in Cornwall and, as the evidence from the chambers of commerce reveal, of all the Cornish resorts, it was most closely attuned to the Great Western's cultural and commercial concept of the 'Ocean Coast'. The

Annual Dinner of Newquay Chamber of Commerce, February 1934, confirmed this with the statement from G.E. Orton. Superintendent G.W.R., declaring "Newquay has proved itself the most progressive resort in Cornwall."69 With a new guide book, `Newquay on the Cornish Coast', and a promotional film, `Newquay', the Superintendent proposed the toast: "Greater Newquay."70 Newquay was the G.W.R.'s only Cornish resort to commit

itself totally to a tourist-based economy (as was the case with Bude, for the Southern

Railway) and, therein, reflected the essential thrust of the G.W.R.'s assessment on the 168 county that the prosperity of the resorts was the effective prosperity progress of Cornwall generally. This was a fundamental expression of the dominance of the metropolitan centre and its influence in terms of shaping and structuring commercial and cultural identity. With their tourist economies and distinctive 'Ocean Coast' and 'Atlantic Coast' identities, Newquay and Bude were the two districts county-wide to return both the lowest unemployment rates. County returns for 1934 71 revealed: Newquay 10.7 and Bude 8.6 per cent, together with the highest percentage increases in population: Newquay, 8.2 and

Bude, 9.2 per cent. 72 Returns for 1948 suggest this trend was sustained. 73 By contrast, the traditional mining communities, as in the Gunnislake and Redruth districts, for example, reflected unemployment levels in 1934 of 64.6 and 40.2 per cent respectively. 74 It was also significant that resistance or reluctance to embrace a more committed tourist

identity and economy at Penzance was based on the view that the town had wider terms of reference, commercially. It was a busy port, a thriving market town, a centre for horticulture and had large-scale interests in the fishing industry. Falmouth, with its docks,

and Looe, with its fishing and agriculture interests, provided further examples of alter-

native and frequently rival economies, locally.

The G.W.R.'s involvement with the chambers of commerce revealed not only the

detailed differences of emphasis that often existed between the company and the local

authorities, it further highlighted the basic distinction between the company's policy of presenting Cornwall as an overall experience - a unified, collective identity - and that of

the individual resorts that, largely, looked to their own particular circumstances and per-

ceived interests as indicated above. It is in this context that we note Pole's repeated

emphasis on the need for co-operative effort. His focus - primarily commercial and

administrative - was, nevertheless, directly reflected in the literary presentation.

Ultimately, and always in the context of rendering it as a special place with a unique

identity, the Great Western literature of the thirties presented Cornwall as an open book,

the sense of its being all things to all people. 'Ocean Coast' and ancient Celtic perspec- 169 tives were uppermost, but Mais in the Preface to 'The Cornish Riviera' also emphasised what he considered was "Cornwall's diversity of riches". Thus we read:

The motto of the Duchy is "One and All", and it may be interpreted

in this way, that the visitor who opens his eyes to the wooded loveli-

ness of the Fowey Valley and closes them to the deserted broken down

chimneys of old tin mines and the mountainous white pyramids of

china clay refuse that litter the hillsides, has no chance whatever of

getting to know real Cornwall. It is one and indivisible. You may go

to the Duchy with the idea of playing gold and end by exploring tin

mines. You may go there with the idea that you are in for a normal

English holiday and find yourself in an atmosphere of warlocks and

pixies, miracle-working saints and woe-making witches -- You may

go there only intent on tennis and find yourself at the end of a fortnight

a devotee of holy wells and Celtic crosses.

It is well to go to Cornwall with an open mind.75

This was, effectively, the collective characterisation of Cornwall; the Great Western

Railway's carefully constructed and, likewise, carefully regulated Cornish cultural identity. 170

REFERENCES - CHAPTER SIX

The Ocean Coast

1/ William Gilpin: Observations on the Western Parts of England relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, to which are added a few remarks on the Picturesque Beauty of the Isles of Wight. 1798. P263.

2/ Ward-Lock and Co., Guide To South Devon. Torquay. Paignton. Dartmouth. 1897, P20.

3/ Seaside Watering Places, 1904. Upton Gill, London, 1904-05 Season. P139.

4/ R.N. Worth. Tourist's Guide To South Devon, 1878. P63.

5/ Ward-Lock. South Devon. P21.

6/ A.M. Broadley. Devon. The Shire Of The Sea Kings G.W.R. (1904) 1912 ed. P46.

7/ S.P.B. Mais. Glorious Devon, G.W.R. (1928) 1934 ed.

8/ Ibid P35.

9/ Ward-Lock. South Devon P24.

10/ Alain Corbin. The Lure Of The Sea, Penguin, 1994. P250.

11/ G.W.R. Winter REsorts On The G.W.R. 1925. P50.

12/ Ibid P50.

13/ British Railways Holiday Haunts, Western Region, 1959, P78.

14/ A.M. Broadley. Shire Sea Kings P66/67.

15/ S.P.B. Mais. Glorious Devon P64.

16/ R.N. Worth. South Devon. P125.

17/ Ward-Lock. South Devon. P104.

18/ Seaside Watering Places. Upcott Gill, London, 1904/5, P158. 171

19/ Ibid P158.

20/ Maxwell Fraser. The Golden West Of England, G.W.R. 1930 P5.

21/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1934. P10.

22/ G.W.R. Brochure. Weymouth, 1934, unpaginated.

23/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1936. P650.

24/ Local Authority Brochure, Porthcawr. c1936 unpaginated.

25/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1929 P575.

26/ Local Authority Brochure. Circa 1936. The brochure included the statement: "The BBC have recognised its unique attractions and its popular appeal by their broadcasts from Coney Beach to Great Britain and the British Empire."

27/ Holiday Haunts 1939 P821.

28/ Ibid P821.

29/ G.W.R. Brochure. Paignton. Glorious Devon. 1937.

30/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1947, P251.

31/ G.W.R. Magazine, July 1936 P317.

32/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1947 P251.

33/ L.M.S. 'Holidays By L.M.S.' 1938 P682.

34/ G.W.R. Magazine, August 1938 P318.

35/ Ibid P318.

36/ G.W.R. The Ocean Coast (1924), 1927 ed P7.

37/ Holiday Haunts, 1937 P173.

38/ G.W.R. Winter Resorts, 1934, P19.

39/ S.P.B. Mais. The Cornish Riviera, 1928, P116.

40/ Holiday Haunts, 1937 P173.

41/ S.P.B. Mais. The Cornish Riviera, G.W.R. 1934 ed P116. 172

42/ The Homeland Association Homeland Handbook: St. Ives, Vol. 78.

43/ Ibid P5.

44/ Holiday Haunts, 1934 P156.

45/ G.W.R. The Ocean Coast, 1924.

46/ Metropolitan Railway 'Metro-Land'. Annual editions 1915-1932. The 1924/25 editions are particularly interesting for their coverage of the British Empire Exhibition.

47/ G.W.R. The Ocean Coast. P4.

48/ Ibid P4/5.

49/ Ibid P5.

50/ Ibid PS.

51/ G.W.R. G.W.R. (London) Lecture and Debating Society Session 1934-35, No. 284, "Railway Publicity".

52/ Ibid P14.

53/ Sir Felix Pole. "His Book" Private Circulation, 1954. Town And Country Press, 1968. P81.

54/ Ibid P86.

55/ G.W.R. Magazine, July 1934 P349.

56/ Newquay Advertising Committee/Chamber of Commerce. Report: "The Newquay Express", January 19 1928 P7.

57/ F.R. Davis Annual Dinner, Chamber of Commerce. Penzance. Report: 'The Cornishman' Monday 12 March 1928 P7.

58/ Felix Pole. Annual Dinner, Chamber of Commerce, Newquay. Report: The Newquay Express, 14 March 1929. P7. The Come To Cornwall Association was the county-wide publicity initiative developed by the various town and district authorities to promote tourism. Whilst, as Pole urged, it looked to the larger county reference for tourism, it nevertheless was at best only loosely integrated, with each town essentially looking to its own interests. Competition, not the co-operation envisaged by the G.W.R., was evident in the format and style of this publication. See also G.W.R. Magazine, 1925. P179. 173

59/ Ibid P7.

60/ Ibid P7.

61/ Annual Dinner, Chamber of Commerce, Penzance. Report: 'The Cornishman' 26 January, 1938. P7.

62/ F.R. Potter. Annual Dinner, C of C, January, 1938 P7.

63/ Ibid P7.

64/ Ibid P7.

65/ Ibid P7.

66/ Ibid P7. See also G.W.R. Magazine, 1939. P246.

67/ S.P.B. Mais. Annual Dinner, Chamber of Commerce, Newquay. 'The Newquay Express', 17 February, 1938. P2.

68/ Ibid P2.

69/ G.E. Orton. Annual Dinner, Chamber of Commerce, Newquay. 'The Newquay Express', 22 February, 1934, P6.

70/ Ibid P6.

71/ Cornwal County Council. Planning Office Maps, No. 5-10. H.W.J. Heck, County Planning Officer, 1949.

72/ Ibid C.C.C.

73/ Ibid C.C.C.

74/ Ibid C.C.C.

75/ S.P.B. Mais. Cornish Riviera, 1934 ed. P3. 174

CHAPTER SEVEN Southern Railway Perspective

This survey of Southern Railway literature and company policy is pursued in terms of thematic counterpoint with that of the G.W.R. Both companies shared the prevailing cultural characterisation of the 'Southern Country', the 'Southern Metaphor', differentiating them from the L.N.E.R. and L.M.S. with their respective northern, industrial orientations and affiliations, but within this designated 'South Country' reference, the

G.W.R. and the Southern Railway also reflected detailed and distinctive differences in focus and style.

Great Western policy emphasised images of continuity, tradition and authority com- municated through the evocative celebration of historic place and event, linked thematically to the rural tradition of the English landscape and to perspectives of Empire.

Southern Railway perspectives, however, whilst reflecting these values, clearly gave precedence to the expression of modernity: to a decidedly contemporary identity that celebrated progress and the present for its own sake without necessarily engaging the past in terms of process or perspective. The Southern Railway literature obviously cel-

ebrated the historical tradition, as the record reveals, but it was essentially contextualised

and delivered in an accessible, less exclusive, reverential style than that of the G.W.R.

This was a perspective broadly characterised by a consistent and stylistic appeal to a

synthesis, accommodating past and present, rural and urban experience in an open,

eclectic, popularist context. It was a mode of perception and appreciation that was fun-

damentally inclusive, democratic and far removed from the established protocol and

overtly hierarchical representations evident in the G.W.R. literature. With obvious

exceptions - Exeter, for example, - the Southern Railway literature rarely indulged in

specifically defined, detailed historical expositions. History as mission and inheritance, 175 the historiographical perspective of Anglo-Saxon destiny, was not a prominent feature.

The specific 'Electric' imagery, in particular, conveyed three important dimensions of Southern Railway identity. Above all, it was perceived as progressive and highly efficient, but it was also closely associated with that of 'garden' imagery which encom- passed the majority of its coastal, seaside representations, the suburban dimensions and the rural characterisation. These three elements, integral to the Home Counties and

South Coast identification, emphasised the company's essentially urbanised character, dominant in its territory east of Salisbury and Bournemouth.

Structurally and culturally, the system west of Salisbury - the Western counties of

Wiltshire, Dorset, Devon and North Cornwall - reflected a dramatically different character and style from that of the Home Counties and South Coast. Whereas, in the South, all aspects of the region were integrated features of an overall urban-orientated perspective variously mediated through the metropolitan matrix, the West of England presented a very different prospect. It was definitively rural, historical, traditionalist construct and, in the case of North Cornwall, unique, as an ancient and mystical Celtic Kingdom, itself differentiated in every sense from its Anglicised, rural, neighbouring county of Devon.

The distinction was much more than a simple matter of the physical distance from the metropolitan base. The company's presentation of the South of France, the

Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts - as Cannes, The Riviera, Biarritz, the literature of

'The Peerless Riviera' and `Twixt France and Spain' indicated - suggested no cultural discontinuity at all with the largely metropolitan values of South-East England. 'The

Great Highway', 1 as the Southern Railway described its continental services, celebrated the cosmopolitan imagery of familiarity and exchange, underlining the company's identification with European perspectives in commercial and cultural terms. Waterloo, however, was the gateway, via 'The Atlantic Coast Express', to something very different.

These contrasting representations indicate something of a dual identity within the

Southern Railway system. But, to a certain extent, the distinction between the Southern 176

Home Counties/South Coast identity and that of the West of England could be attributed, as with the G.W.R., to the concept of comprehensive services and opportunities in tourist enterprise - the provision of alternatives and choice. But there were vital differentiating factors defining the respective approaches of the two companies. The G.W.R. had a much longer established and more extensive presence in the West of England than had its rival. Its investment had been - and continued to be through the inter-war era - substantial. Primarily, however, consistent with its definitively corporate structure, the West of England was specifically identified as the company's premier tourist region, thus ben- efiting from Paddington's concentrated efforts in celebrating, collectively and individually, the counties of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. But in terms of commerce, cultural identification and, not least, geographical reference, the Southern's territory west of

Salisbury was never as fully integrated with the evidently more prosperous, mobile and urban-orientated South. For all its unique, mystical properties, the West of England could never compete with the authority, the glamour and concentrated cultural resonance of metropolitan and international focus. Thus, Victoria Station and its dynamic character and thrust as conveyed in `Twixt France and Spain'.

It is on to this platform ... that there assembles daily throughout the

year the most heterogenous and interesting collection of people of

any place in Britain. It is the route of Diplomacy, Fashion, Sport,

Business, the Stage, and Arts.2

Brighton was the South Coast version of this fashionable perspective, much more that of

Scott Fitzgerald than of King Arthur; a metropolitan rather than a mystical, moorland perspective, with all the attendant sophisticated, urbane, demarcatory associations that defined the former.

The South-East of England during the inter-war era progressively addressed the imagery, style and character consistent with the cutting edge of innovation and industrial, commercial enterprise. The 'Electric' identity, both in its main-line services to the 177

South Coast resorts and in the developing suburban network, was the ideal expression of the region's overall character. By way of literary reference to this modern, dynamic ethos, we can refer to the conspicuous celebratory pamphlet, 'Advertise on the Live

Line', prepared for the Advertising Exhibition at Olympia in July 1933. Included in the

July edition of the Southern Railway Magazine, it read:

Census figures prove conclusively that the South of England is grow-

ing much faster than the national rate . . . In the country served by

the Southern Railway (1921-1931) the population increased from

11,853,021 to 12,687,189. The increase on the Southern system was

7.04 per cent but in the rest of England and Wales, only 4.71 per cent

Moreover, in less than a quarter of the area, the South of England

has nearly one third of the total population. 317,128,899 passengers

were carried by the Southern Railway in 1932, against 293,366,360

in 1922 - an increase of over 8 per cent. So in spite of the decrease

in trade, the millions on the Southern system are actually travelling

more.3

Five years later, at the opening of the Chessington branch, the Traffic Manager, Eustace

Missenden, proclaimed:

The Southern Railway Company has the most intensive electrified

suburban service in the world.4

Favourable comparisons with the U.S.A. revealed that in the latter with a route mileage

(1936) of 214,882, passenger journeys were 490,000,000: the Southern Railway with a

route mileage (1937) of 2,200 recorded its passenger journeys at 378,600,000.5

The commercial dynamics celebrated here had their literary and artistic equivalent

in the minimalist stylist of much of the company's published material and in the innov-

ative poster work that clearly characterised Southern Railway imagery. In modern par-

lance, ,the company's publicity work was essentially lean, inventive and economic, an 178 approach that contrasted sharply with the more extended and reflectively traditional style of the G.W.R. The company magazine acknowledged the role of Mr. C. Grasemann,

Public Relations and Advertising Officer, indicating that he asked artists not to fail to let him have new ideas for posters arguing, stylistically, "the more unorthodox, the better, for he was all out for surprises."6 'Southern Electric', extensively celebrated in the company's poster work, leant itself readily to modern, dramatic representation, given that electrification required detailed related civil and mechanical engineering works.

The re-development of stations and colour-light signalling directly accorded with the image of fast, regular, clean and efficient train services. Celebrating the opening of the rebuilt Richmond station the Southern Railway Magazine recorded a very definite statement of policy across the company.

The new station is a thing of efficiency . . . a palatial looking affair

ranking in appearance with the most modern town hall, shopping

store or super-cinema.7

But it was also apparent that, as an important dimension of the progressive identity, the Southern Railway clearly perceived the 'Electric' imagery as harmonious with the rural as well as the urban perspective as, indeed, the numerous company photographs of express and stopping trains in deep, rural Hampshire and Sussex or the suburban reaches of Surrey testified. The image of the modern electric train amidst the landscape of rural England with all the latter's accumulated cultural associations, historical and aesthetic, was widely presented in the company's literature of the thirties and, particularly so, in terms of the wider residential reference and orientation. The focus and format of the variously named residential publications - 'Country Homes at London's Door' and, later, simply, 'Southern Homes' 8 - reflected a three-fold representation: that of an initial celebration of the rural-historical setting, - the aesthetic dimension, thence the related statement of the modern amenities - schools, shops, cinemas etc - the collective environment of health and recreation and, definitively, the distance and timings to and from 179

London, together with the frequency of train service.

In many respects the Southern Railway's urban-rural, past-present dialectical reference was thematically, structurally and stylistically more immediate, inclusive and pop- ularly accessible than that of the G.W.R. The latter clearly differentiated the rural and urban perspectives in respect of style and context throughout its literary work, thereby creating the sense of a prevailing rural, historical character that largely belied the company's sophisticated corporate, commercial, structure. The Southern Railway, however, displayed a definite sense of practical continuity that did not in any way equate adaptation and change, the imagery of progress, with representations of cultural compromise and dissipation - a consistent thematic sub-text for the G.W.R.

Contemporary, progressive imagery was considered as essential to overall attitude and atmosphere as that of the sum total of technical, commercial achievement. Thus the imagery of electrification, modern architecture and dynamic publicity cannot be under- estimated. Collectively, this represented a significantly revised sense of perspective across a broad cultural spectrum. Perceptions were challenged; attitudes questioned.

The Southern Railway in the South East encouraged and reflected the general process of progressive re-evaluation of hitherto culturally received notions: of landscape, of aesthetic awareness and appreciation, of the relationship between past and present, indeed, of the perception of the past generally; of the directly related theme of urban-rural identifications and that of the opportunities and expectation that defined the holiday experience of the inter-war era in the light of social and economic changes. One of the company's most distinctive features was the desire, as expressed throughout its literature, to reconcile, re-focus actual and potentially conflicting economic and cultural perspectives so as to present the Sunny South Coast as the consummate holiday location: to celebrate, simultaneously and without undue self-conscious effort, Cowes Week and the spontaneous, gratuitous fun of the bumper boats or water-chute rides to be found amongst the miles of seafront entertainments along the South Coast. 1 80

An extended reference to the South Coast resorts will be considered later, but the immediate focus here is with the comparative representations of Brighton as indicative of the projected character and styles of the Southern and of the Great Western Railway.

As indicated, the essential differentiation was with the G.W.R.'s evident reluctance to celebrate all aspects of popular commercial culture, counterbalanced by its sustained identification with those pursuits conforming to a more traditionally-perceived exclusive status. Across the G.W.R. network itself, as in Paignton, for example, or Weston-Super-

Mare, the company's largest commercialised family resorts offered only muted and gen- eralised reference to fun-fairs and amusement parks, although, in Devon and North

Cornwall, the Southern Railway, likewise, pursued similar policies. Bude, for example, was the antithesis of Brighton. Direct comparison and contrast was available on the

South Coast given that the G.W.R. served the likes of Hastings, Eastbourne, Brighton,

Portsmouth, etc. with its numerous cross-country services. 'Holiday Haunts' carried detailed reference to these resorts and for present purposes the comparative approaches with regard to Brighton and Eastbourne are corisideied.

Southern Railway literature on Brighton was inevitably more extensive and detailed than that offered by the G.W.R. but there were other distinguishing features in their respective styles and presentations. 'Hints for Holidays' (S.R.) reflected the dynamic, progressive imagery of a resort well attuned to contemporary perspectives.

Every year Brighton becomes more popular and with the constant

improvements in the way of five new amusement buildings, widened

boulevards, gardens, boating pools, etc., it can be truly said that the

town is not merely meeting the requirements of the passing moment,

but the demands of the future.9

The L.M.S. guide, 'Holidays by L.M.S.', likewise noted "the extraordinary diversity of attractions . . . its all embracing entertainments," I ° and, in pursuit of the open, democratic perspective, also emphasised "the abundant accommodation for all types." I 1 8 1

Great Western literature acknowledged that Brighton had its "many imitators who, in spite of their gallant efforts, remain but a shadow of the joyous Sussex resort with its multifarious amusements." 12 The latter were detailed in an extensive entry for 'Holiday

Haunts' which surpassed those devoted to its own resorts of Paignton and Weston-Super

Mare. Amongst the reference to 'Neon Lighting, gay restaurants and cabarets' etc., were also expressions such as, "the town keeps its guests as happily amused by night as by day," 13 whilst the cinemas, dance-halls and arcades "ensure that every passing whim can be gratified." 14 "Happily amused" and "passing whims" suggests a not completely unqualified endorsement of such lavish provision.

The Great Western's preferred perspective, in line with its presentation of its own resorts, was that of Brighton as an exclusive location of unique character in Britain, clearly differentiated from its many would-be rivals and closely identified with continental attributes.

Brighton has achieved the Continental air so naturally that visitors

find it almost impossible to believe that they have not been transpor-

ted across the Channel. The boulevard habit which in no other resort

in Britain has succeeded is part of the very life of the town where the

most conventional take their morning coffee in the open air as a

matter of course . . . 15

Eastbourne was given an equally exclusive image but one of a somewhat different emphasis and style. Here, it was not a continental identity that predominated; it was that of essential Englishness. In G.W.R. terms that meant an initiate, exclusive, hierarchical character which, as the following extract reveals, did not attempt to incorporate any element of broad popular appeal.

Unlike most Sussex resorts, Eastbourne has neither a Continental

atmosphere nor a complete carefree democracy. The town is essen-

tially dignified and English in its atmosphere, a place which is largely 182

residential, where the majority of visitors take houses for long periods

indulging in the sports which are such a feature of the town. . . A

distinctive feature of the front is that there are no shops, one of the

many pleasant developments which demonstrates that this resort,

although progressive, has no desire for a cheap popularity.16

Pursuing the reference to sports, 'Holiday Haunts' also stated that there were probably

"more horse-riders to be found in Eastbourne than in any other coastal resort in the

Kingdom." 17 It was also significant that 'Holiday Haunts' stressed the word "English" in this passage by printing it in italics.

Southern Railway presentations of Eastbourne also emphasised its dignified, elegant character, but 'Hints for Holidays' focused upon a strong sense of aesthetic distinction and put less explicit emphasis on the social and cultural exclusivity that defined the Great Western's perspective. The 1939 edition of the Southern Railway's guide described Eastbourne as "an example of perfect town planning" 18 and, having clearly established the outstanding aesthetic credentials, it underlined the modern "up-to-date" beach and general recreational amenities and, in one telling sentence, revealed:

In its gayest hours the town never loses its sense of dignity, and con-

sequently it is exceedingly popular with all types of holiday makers-19

This was the perspective of harmony wherein the town's focused aesthetic, its garden imagery, was perceived to appeal to a broad social spectrum and thereby express the

Southern Railway's recurring theme, within the South Coast identity, of a cultural synthesis.

The Channel Islands, presented in 'Hints for Holidays' as 'The Riviera of Great

Britain', perpetuated the 'garden' imagery albeit enhanced by the pervading Anglo-

French characterisation. But the overall ethos was that of variety and enjoyment, incorporating 'Jersey's shopping facilities, promenade illuminations and 'abundance of

amusements', for example, with that of the aesthetics of landscape and seashore. In 183 similar thematic focus the company also promoted its provision of 'Day and Short-

Break' visits to the Continent through the avuncular figure of "Sunny South Sam" who, in this context, encouraged prospective visitors with the slogan: "Tell your friends you've been abroad." 20 Thus, together with the prestigious delineation for its established continental traffic, the Southern Railway specifically pursued popularist participation.

History and tradition obviously mattered to the Southern Railway, but its role and function in the company's literature indicated a different emphasis and, therefore, presentation from that of the G.W.R. One particularly distinctive feature was, as mentioned, the clearly differentiated presentational perspective on the part of the company in the

West of England where it was effectively of identical content and style to that of the

G.W.R. Elsewhere, there were the unmistakably different terms of reference but, for its part, the G.W.R.'s rural, historical, cultural reference reflected a clearly defined and structurally thematic approach across its entire network. Given the Southern's particular historical perspective, understood in the context of the company's collective imagery, the presentation of historical tradition and the past appeared to take the form of a stylistic counterpoint or intrinsic quality rather than the set, centre-piece approach of the

G.W.R.

Having given some indication of the scope of the Southern Railway's presentational style and approach in the South-East and particularly along the South Coast and, noting its detailed differentiation from the perspective of the West of England and of the

G.W.R. generally, some specific reference to the content and stylistic focus of the company literature is necessary.

Amongst the most definitive, powerful perspectives of Southern Railway experience, perhaps its supreme characteristic, was the synthesis that it pursued in terms of rural-urban/industrial and past-present identities. Kenneth H. Johnston, 'British

Railways and Economic Recovery',21 1949, championed the case for widespread main- 1 84 line electrification and, whilst offering critical verdicts on the other three great companies, praised the Southern Railway for its inter-war achievements. Johnston noted the particular contribution of electrified services in their capacity for fast regularised and efficient train services to re-distribute the population with the minimum of inconve- nience in terms of the home, work and recreational complex. Contrasting the dense concentration of population in industrial cities and the negative effects with the infinitely healthier environment of the small town or suburb development, he asserted that electrification, in terms of transport alone, could be of great assistance by:

. . . popularising the developments of smaller settlements affording

light and air where the settlers could grow vegetables for themselves

without any feeling of severance from former interests in the big

towns.

In addition there is growing support for the dissemination of industry

in smaller productive units throughout the countryside with a view to

securing the inter-consolidation of industry and agriculture.22

Electricity, generally, was perceived as something akin to a panacea; an indis-

putable statement of progress.

Just as steam belched forth the spirit of uncoordinated individualism

so perhaps does electricity attend this more oxygenated conception of

industrial structure establishing the feasibility of the small unit as an

independent yet harmonised element of an organic whole.23

S.P.B. Mais, 'Southern Rambles for Londoners', and 'Waking at Weekends', both

highlighted the rural-urban dialectic, underlining the ease of access and the general effi-

ciency - fast, regular and clean - that allowed the city to visit the country. Residential

sites, new and otherwise, at ever increasing distance from London, also encouraged com-

muter traffic as illustrated below with specific reference to Worthing. With specific ref-

erence to 'Southern Rambles for Londoners' however, Mais set the relevant context and 1 85 style for popular excursions indicative of the Southern Railway's culturally accommodatory style and the evident agenda of citizenship.

The object of this book is quite simple, it is to remind you of a very

precious heritage which has been bequeathed you by countless gener-

ations of your ancestors; vistas of loveliness, quiet footpaths through

green meadows, dense forest, sunny gorse commons, hidden streams

and tiny hamlets lying in amazing profusion almost on your doorstep

that can be reached within thirty, forty or sixty minutes by train from

Victoria, Charing Cross, London Bridge, Cannon Street or Waterloo.24

The juxtaposition of rural delights and the great London termini, with all their dominant urban associations, clearly reflected the urban-rural interaction defining this literary focus. Mais emphasised the open access which, in itself, was a supreme achievement of urban, industrial achievement, whilst the Southern Railway underlined the modern, efficient and, significantly, the marked cleanliness of the new electric services with their conspicuous contribution to the environment generally. As C.T. Moody observed in

'Southern Electric', 1957:

From the passenger's point of view, the electric services were faster,

more frequent and ran at regular intervals which could be memorised

easily. The trains were cleaner, better lit and more punctual.25

Electric trains attracted large numbers of excursionists and the southern Railway offered

'Go As You Please' ticketing with a wide range of Cheap Day, Half-Day and Sunday

Tickets. With the railway providing the means, Mais presented the concept of 'The

People's Countryside'; the effective complement to urban, city life.

To reach these Elysian Fields you need not wait for your annual hol-

iday. You can find them whenever you have four or five hours to

spare . . . All you need is a shilling or two in your purse to pay the 186

railway fare.26

Accessibility, clearly expressed here and in the previous extracts, presented no particular problem; it was inexpensive, regular and highly efficient. Urban and rural, town and country links were sealed, as Mais put it, by a matter of "a shilling or two" and a few odd hours or so to spare. The notion of time 'to spare' for the enjoyment of rural

England underlines the entire context of townsman, individually, or in large, organised outings, visiting the countryside. It was significant that in 'Rambles for Londoners',

Mais frequently emphasised, not only the easy access into the countryside, but also the numerous railway routes that guaranteed a swift return to London, as and when required.

In his Preface, he noted:

On these walks of mine, though I seldom saw it, there has always

been, within a mile or two on my left or right, a railway line and a

station so that, in the event of my becoming tired, I could always cur-

tail my tramp.27

Looking to comparisons of G.W.R. and Southern Railway identities, the latter

reflected the noticeably more dynamic contemporary character that highlighted increas-

ingly popular features, such as convenience, easy and cheap movement, the cleanliness

of electric trains and a definite sense in the style and presentation here of open and easy

access available to all and everyone. The South Coast

The Southern Railway's dynamic contemporary identity in the South-East, and par-

ticularly along the South Coast, to a large extent related to the proximity and influence

of London and, specifically, the Southern Railway's perception of London, which was

very different from that of the G.W.R. The latter presented London almost exclusively

in terms of the historic, cultural, imperial capital, as Raphael Samuel, 'Theatres of

Memory', put it, "of sceptre and sword." 28 Moreover, the Great Western's portrait

underlined the intrinsic rural identification within its presentation of the nation's capital 187 as expressed in the opening pages of 'Holiday Haunts'. Southern Railway perspectives, however, were evidently more urban-orientated, with a focus upon the capital as the great centre of commercial activity, emphasising the large department stores, the endless variety of entertainments and the sense of London, generally, as an aesthetic experience; an exciting spectacle which included the set-pieces, both past and present. The West

End, `theatreland', `newspaperland', historic London - St. Pauls, The Tower,

Buckingham Palace and Westminster - the famous parks and gardens, museums, the

London Zoo, reflected the cultural synthesis of the modern and the traditional; urban and rural, as elsewhere across the South East. It was definitive of the imagery and identity of the Southern Railway and its commitment to the celebration of dynamic, contemporary qualities which, in their particular geographical, geopolitical context, corresponded directly with the South-East of England in its obvious proximity and interaction with London and, significantly, the Continent.

South Coast imagery and identity, fundamentally metropolitan-inspired, given its close geographical, social, economic and cultural links with London, reflected the char-

acteristics of London-By-Sea. This had been observed, in negative terms, early in the

nineteenth century, by John Constable. In a letter of August 1824, and with specific ref-

erence to Brighton, he wrote:

I am living here but I dislike the place - Brighton is receptacle of the

fashion and off-scouring of London - and the beach is only Piccadilly

by the seaside.29

The proximity and inevitable interaction of London and the South Coast was cast

in very different perspective sometime later by 'Black's Watering Places: Where Shall

We Go?' 1869. Again, with reference to Brighton, we read:

If one wishes, while leaving London for the seaside, to change as

little as possible one's London habits, to see the same kind of people,

same kind of ships, enjoy the same kind of luxuries, then Brighton is 188

the place to be chosen. Or if prolonged absence from the metropolis

be out of the question, then again Brighton is the very thing for us;

for nothing is easier than to leisurely breakfast there, within the roar

and the scent of the sea, be in the office or on the mart at the usual

time, to remain the usual hours and then, with equal leisure, return to

the family dinner table to spend the evening afterwards in the neigh-

bourhood of chalky cliffs of England's seaside capita1.30

The suburban perspective was quite clearly evident here and was to be increasingly adopted, particularly so under the Southern Railway and ultimately, with the company's electrification programme, definitive of speed, reliability and progress. 'Hints for

Holidays' repeatedly emphasised the easy access to and from London, promoting the

South Coat as the ideal location in terms of residential status, holidays of whatever dura- tion and, significantly, of day excursions. The South Coast identity thus incorporated a declared policy of open, democratic proportions with the appeal to broad spectrumed interests. As 'Hints for Holidays', 1931 edition, put it with regard to Hastings, "the town authorities have managed to supply the happy mean ... their policy being neither "high" nor "low" brow but catering for the man of average tastes.31

Worthing was probably the Southern Railway's closest approximation to the all- round resort for winter and summer seasons: for urban and rural perspectives. 'Winter

Holidays in Southern England', 1929/30 declared:

. . . the borough now comprises a combination of seaside and pastoral

scenery unsurpassed in the whole country.32

'Hints for Holidays', 1934, presented the resort in dynamic mode, emphasising its pro-

gressive character in the context of housing development and the newly inaugurated

'Electric Coast' perspectives.

To the attraction of a mild and sunny climate must be added those of

its nearness to the Metropolis and splendid electric train service, also 1 89

its up-to-date hotels, boarding and apartment houses and villa res-

idences. These have all helped to make Worthing one of the most

favoured holiday resorts within a short distance of London.33

Further, more detailed reference followed:

The electrification of the Southern Railway brings Worthing within

82 minutes run of London. Luxuriously appointed electric corridor

trains give what is practically a suburban service throughout the day.

Several new building estates have been laid out during the course of

the last few years and others are in the course of development, one

estate alone will provide for the erection of 10,000 houses. It is not

surprising, therefore, that many City men reside in the borough, taking

advantage of the through "business express" trains and the low rate

season tickets.34

This "Garden Town of the South Coast" as 'Hints for Holidays' would have it, offered full provision for family holidays in a modern setting with its beaches and various holi-

day attractions, but it also combined this with the direct access offered to the nearby

South Downs and the appeal of historic villages and dramatic landscapes. Famed also

for its abundant horticulture, the miles of glass houses where grapes, tomatoes, cucum-

bers are cultivated in large numbers locally, recognised as a modern holiday resort and

as a rising residential, commuter location and a favoured residence for "ex-Anglo-

Indians and Colonials," 35 and again for its proximity to the South Downs, Worthing col-

lectively symbolised the aspirations, achievements and identity of railway, residents and

resort.

The definitively modern image was also becoming increasingly apparent in tradi-

tionally historic sites. This was the case at Pevensey. 'Hints for Holidays' devoted a

detailed paragraph to "ivy-covered remains of the ancient castle" 36 and, given the loca-

tion's dramatic links with Roman, Norman and Medieval heritage, the overall historical 190 perspective was wide-ranging, with suitably incorporated aesthetic elements. What was significant, however, was the particular emphasis, in words and pictures, upon the evolving nature of the location as 'Hints for Holidays' noted for Pevensey. "Nowadays it is assuming a fresh identity as a seaside resort and nearly 2000 new bungalows and houses are being built, creating a new town."37

The use of the adjective "fresh" and the opening reference to "Nowadays" sets a

perspective of time and change and, as ever in the Southern Railway's treatment of the

South-East, to progressive adaptation. "Fresh" also suggests the new or revitalised ele-

ment and it was clear that the company intended that the perspective of the past and that

of the community's related rural, aesthetic context was to be augmented rather than

diminished or supplanted. The evolving identity, the synthesis of ancient and modern;

rural and urban, would thus enhance the general popularity and appeal of this coastal dis-

trict.

As to the overall popularity of the South Coast in holiday and residential terms, the

considerable number of railway halts opened prior to 1914 between Havant in the west

and Hastings in the east indicated its obvious attraction. Ten halts were opened between

Havant and Brighton and six from the latter point eastward to Hastings.

'Walking at Weekends', Southern Railway, S.P.B. Mais, was another evocative title

exemplifying the company's distinctive rural-urban dialectic. In its focus and style, this

book made no effort whatever to banish modernity, as was often the case in G.W.R. pub-

lications, but instead incorporated particular images to represent the ongoing English tra-

dition. It was further indication of the inclusive harmonising character of much of the

Southern Railway's literary work. Here, Mais considers the village of Southease, near

Lewes, and the surrounding spectacle, the occasion being a day-trip from Eastbourne.

As I came to the tiny green, an ancient shepherd in a Sussex smock,

a tall shepherd's crook in his hand, his wife by his side and dog foll-

owing, slowly made his way homewards. I turned to see the boat- 191

train gathering speed as she came up the lovely valley and I wished

that all foreign visitors to England could get their first impressions

of our land in this valley, for England holds no scene more peaceful

or more charming.38

Returning to Lewes, Mais was true to formula in indulging in "a mighty tea at a shop in the High Street,"39 before taking the train back to Eastbourne. Thus, in this brief reference alone, we find what, except for the all-important inclusion of the boat-train and the perspective of foreign visitors, would have otherwise amounted to no more than imitation of distanced sentiments from Gray's Elegy or from Thomas Hardy, for example.

The juxtaposition of tradition and modernity, rural England and foreign dimensions,

inspired much sharper cultural resonance. The departure from, and return to, England or, as Mais indicated, the visitor's first or final images, were those of traditional, rural

dimensions which, at whatever level of cognitive or emotional engagement, set repre-

sentations of English cultural identity into an international context of comparison and

contrast; a perspective that engaged imperial, commercial, political and military dimen-

sions alike. This was, in turn, supplemented by the tea-shop imagery to effect a charac-

teristically homogenous cultural appeal that, again, addressed itself to various levels of

both individualised and communally based recognition. Without doubt, it was a defini-

tive dimension of Southern Railway literature and poster work, reflecting cultural per-

spectives that, today, can also be seen to have been very much part of the war-time and

immediate post-war cinematic tradition, as represented by films such as 'Mrs. Miniver',

1941 'A Canterbury Tale', 1944 and 'Tawny Pippet' also 1944. In each case, these films

addressed, directly, the themes of identity, cultural accommodation, continuity and

change.

The company's presentation of Portsmouth and Southsea was in every sense explic-

it. 'hints for Holidays' through the thirties was eloquent as to their undoubted attribut-

es as a foremost holiday destination, dedicated to progressive hedonistic perspectives 192 and, thus, to their unmistakably contemporary character. 'Hints for Holidays', 1934, left no room for misrepresentation. Announcing Southsea's attractions and, specifically, its character, through its would-be "Southsea News Hints", the contrived newspaper led with the headlines: "Deliberate Act of Sun", and "Mrs. Grundy Dies". 40 The latter with its sub-heading, "A Happy Release", reflected the popular clamour for greater freedom of expression and the pursuit of gratuitous pleasure in the release from former perceived conventions and protocol. The essential focus was that of variety of choice, and spon- taneity.

Mrs. Grundy died at Southsea last year. On all the tennis courts,

bowling greens and golf courses you can now play all day, Sunday.

Free bathing is allowed. Free parking along the front and you can

fly at the new aerodrome on Sundays.4I

The newly opened miniature railway, the canoe lake and the children's swimming pool were emphasised as an important element in Southsea's claim to be the 'Kiddies

Resort'.42 Southsea's 'Rock Gardens', landscaped and floodlit in a variety of colours and effects, together with the general sea-front illuminations, offered further opportunity for holiday enjoyment, extensive lighting being a particular expression of modernity and challenging aesthetic perspective.

The holiday and general recreational ethos was powerfully reinforced, indeed sym- bolically so, by the conversion of former military sites to leisure complexes. Lumps

Fort, to the east of South Parade Pier, was purchased by the Corporation in 1931 and thereafter was landscaped to a garden setting with tennis courts and putting greens. On the site of former defences in the northern, Hilsea district of Portsmouth, the city provided a large, new lido. 'Hints for Holidays' provided the details and the prevailing contemporary character.

Hilsea Lido is all that a modern and up-to-date open-air swimming

pool should be ... Spacious sun bathing accommodation, a compound 193

for physical training, floodlighting by night, a large car park, loud-

speakers, a children's paddling pool and cafes for bathers and spec-

tators complete with amenities.43

'Hints for Holidays' made it perfectly clear that the company's prevailing imagery

and focus at Portsmouth and Southsea was that of the dynamic, contemporary holiday

location that focused almost entirely upon the provision of popular entertainment for its

visitors. The distinctive historical tradition, mentioned earlier, of which the Ward-Lock

Guide gave detailed coverage, was given little scope by the Southern Railway, relative

to the detail on Southsea's entertainments. Inland, however, Alfred's great capital of

Winchester was the subject of extensive historical reference,' 4 a perspective that became

increasingly prominent in the literary work relating to the western counties. B ournemouth

Comparing Southsea with Bournemouth, it was clear that, with the latter, the

Southern presented a more developed concept of modernity, one that, as mentioned ear-

lier, involved an extremely important dimension of the company's imagery and identity:

the urban-rural dialogue - the expression of `rus in urbe.' 45 This particular interaction

determined and defined the Southern Railway's aesthetic and cultural perspectives at

Bournemouth.

It was a recognised feature of the Southern's literary work on the South Coast that

it equated images of sophistication and style with the provision of what it repeatedly

referred to as "modern up-to-date" amenities. These were essentially creative land-

scapes designed to appeal to picturesque appreciations - water courses and the varying perspectives of raised or sunken flower beds and shrubberies - carefully landscaped and,

again, invariably illuminated. When combined, as they always were, with fashionable

hotels, shopping centres, restaurants and cafes, stylish sporting pursuits - tennis, ice-

skating, riding, swimming and water sports - and, again, given the cultural setting of the

theatre and the dramatic and musical, orchestral presentations, libraries, art galleries and 194 winter garden settings, the collective character and ethos was that of an exhilarating, innovative nature, definitive of the Southern Railway on the South Coast. Parallels were thus intended with the character and imagery of the French and Italian Rivieras.

Character and sense of style were often succinctly expressed in singular sentences or observations as in this from 'Hints for Holidays', 1947.

As you watch the crowds in Landsdowne Square or in the gardens,

the shifting pattern will show you every form of feminine chic, from

the crisp, clear coloured smartness of summer dresses to the formal

grace of the town outfit.46

'Chic' was an ideal reference generally. Although seemingly similar in perspective,

Torquay, under Great Western treatment, focused more specifically upon the resort's historical/aesthetic imagery and its closely focused, exclusive identity. The survey here of

Bournemouth shows how that resort was presented as being equally as fashionable and aesthetically impressive as Torquay, but also how the former avoided the structured, culturally exclusive, hierarchical ethos in its literary presentation.

'Hints for Holidays', 1947, described Bournemouth as "one of the most sophisticated towns in the country."47 Like Torquay, it was one of the truly national as opposed to regional or local resorts, Brighton being the third. Served by titled trains, 'The

Bournemouth Belle', from Waterloo, and 'The Pines Express', from Manchester,

Bournemouth was also the destination for numerous holiday trains from the North-West, the North-East, the Midlands and from Bristol and South Wales, reflecting its broad popular appeal.

With its origins in the late nineteenth century Bournemouth had no distinguished history to offer, a fact made clear in the literature. In 1870, with, at best, a poor railway link, it had a population of 5,896; by 1931 this had soared to 116,797.48 Vast improvements in railway access had taken place by 1890, allowing for rapid growth in holiday and residential terms. Thus, with the combination of extremely favourable natural 195 resources and the determined efforts of an innovative local authority, 49 Bournemouth progressively aspired to what the Southern Railway called "Nature's Masterpiece".50

'Hints for Holidays', 1939 characterised the resort and indeed the Southern Railway's definitive South Coat identity.

A modern town planned for health and pleasure interspersed with a

thousand acres of beautiful gardens. Here you will find unrivalled

facilities for every sport and recreation.51

The 'Garden Town' imagery was celebrated at every opportunity an, with the added dimension of country meeting coast, the seashore provided yet further opportunity for closely co-ordinated, picturesque perspectives that in each case enhanced the stylish modern character of the resort and the prestige of the railway company serving it.

It is estimated that within the Borough of Bournemouth alone there

are over one hundred miles of drives and footpaths through the gar-

dens, beautiful parks, picturesque chines, extensive pinewoods and

moorlands and along the magnificent seafront and cliffs.52

Elsewhere 'Hints for Holidays' noted that Bournemouth, having in excess of one

million pines, earned the title, 'Resort among the Pines,' 53 a feature not overlooked in

the naming of 'The Pines Express' in 1927. The Ward-Lock Guide, 1934, followed up

on the Southern Railway's celebration of the various landscape, in similar style and

intention with its detail of the equally varied and exotic range of flower, shrub and tree

to be found.

Palms flourish in the gardens and thickets of bamboo. In their season

camellias and azaleas vie with the rhododendron, magnolias, genista

and guelder rose. The flowering cherry, the pyrus and the Mexican

orange alternate with the lovely ceanothus, or flowering currant, with

white and yellow broom. Burberis of choice variety contrast with

graceful silver birch, or shining copper beech or many others whose 196

names would fill this page.54

Bournemouth Pier, opened in 1880 and considerably enlarged in 1894, offered seascape perspectives whilst to the east and west along the shore, the Undercliff

Promenade and Overcliff Drive reached out to Boscombe in the east and the West Cliff

Drive and West Promenade, to Branksome and the chines. The pier and the Pavilion, the latter in the nearby Pleasure Gardens, were the alternating venues for Bournemouth's famous Municipal Orchestra, the largest of its kind. 'Hints for Holidays' 1939, observed that a sum of around one million pounds had been spent on new entertainment facilities and premises during the previous decade, not least to promote Bournemouth as a noted winter resort. These included the Pavilion, 1929 and an indoor swimming pool, 1937, whilst overall the resort could claim "fourteen first-class cinemas", an ice-skating rink and "the finest indoor bowling green in the world."55 Confident of the all-round chic status, 'Hints for Holidays' completed the credentials: "Shopping facilities here are unexcelled in the south of England."56

Nearby Boscombe also claimed a progressive modern identity as the Ward-Lock

Guide, 1934, recorded.

In its earliest days Boscombe consisted of a few dilapidated cottages

whose dwellers found employment in a neighbouring brickyard and

refreshment in an inn - rural but uninviting. As if by the touch of a

magic hand, stately hotels took the place of the public house; pleasant

villas surrounded by gardens and tree-shaded arose where mud cott-

ages once stood; and where the men of not very ancient Boscombe

laboured in the brickfield, people now saunter along the lovely Chine

Gardens which must rank high among the lovely corners of this del-

ightful coast.57

In keeping with the Southern Railway's perspective, modern improving enterprise was closely identified here with perceptions of beauty, elegance and style. The 'not so very 197 ancient Boscombe' with its rural inn had no retrospective appeal.

Branksome was also part of the "Bournemouth family" but was, from 1905, included within the municipal boundary of Poole. This district was also celebrated for its aesthetic perspectives and, again, well attuned to the Southern Railway's desired characterisation, the Ward-Lock Guide included significant observations. 'Hints for Holidays' noted in 1939 that Branksome Chine, at its seaward end, had recently been significantly developed. Poole Corporation had purchased the land and had provided a new bathing station there, this being declared the end-result of careful studies of continental sun- bathing establishments.58 A municipal cafe with roof garden added to the stylish contemporary character as did The Avenue which, according to Ward Lock, "in June, with its wide banks of flaming rhododendrons is more like a New Forest glade than a modern street."59 The same source summarised the district overall in its statement: "Branksome is able proudly to reverse the common claim to `rus in urbe' and to typify 'tube in rus.'60

It was by reference to interactive perspectives such as these that the Southern

Railway developed its Sunny South Coast identity. The modified version, 'The Sunshine

Coast', drew primarily from the company's frequent presentation of the recorded hours of sunshine drawn from the Meteorological Office. A representative year, 1933, revealed that the first 22 places listed were claimed by Southern Railway South Coast resorts.61 This particular dimension of South Coast imagery, especially when reinforced by all the other assets considered here, was made all the more appealing when, in literature and particularly poster work, the South Coast was directly contrasted with the heavily industrialised areas of the Midlands and the North of England. "The South" was as much a state of mind, a symbol, as it was a geographical location. It evoked the imagery and associations of warmth and light, colour and contrast, vitality and health, with, as Southern Railway literature intended, the all-important dimension of stylish modernity. Garden-town imagery was central to this overall perspective, as was the decisive element of easy mobility and the metropolitan identification, generally - the 1 98 collective received imagery of cultivated, but not exclusive society, comfortable in its contemporary focus. As a final reference in this particular representation of Southern

Railway identity, we consider the Isle of Wight.

By the late thirties, with considerable evidence of investment in improved transport to the Isle of Wight, Ryde became effectively an extended terminus of the Southern's

'Electric Coast.' 62 Mais celebrated the character of the Island in two informative extracts from his 'Isles of the Island', 1934. "I like the Isle of Wight because it is a delightful chunk of the Garden of England that has drifted far enough away to make an island of its own."63 Although describing it personally as a "fault", Mais also highlighted the decisive factor of convenience directly orientating his reference to South

Coast and South Eastern perspectives generally.

You can cross to it from the mainland in about twenty minutes. It is

much too large for a single man to own, but it is just the right size to

copy with the summer invasion. I have been all round it in much less

than a single day, for the excursion on that occasion started from

Brighton at eight o'clock in the morning and by eight o'clock in the

evening we were back in Brighton again.64

This was, manifestly, the extended suburban perspective pursued elsewhere by

Mais as in his 'Southern Rambles for Londoners.' 65 In its emphasis upon sensations of freedom, mobility and convenience, this was a presentation that fell clearly into the mainstream of the Southern Railway's projection of its progressive, contemporary, dynamic character - the synthesis of an urban-rural perspective to which the Isle of

Wight neatly conformed. Just as Mais celebrated the convenience in terms of access and the easy movement around the Island, so the landscape and its character was, likewise, presented to reflect the convenience of all things to everyone. The eastern seaboard resorts - Ryde, Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor - were effectively island equivalents of the 'Sunny South Coast'. The rural hinterland, Carisbrooke, Godshill, for example, were 199 redolant of historic rural England, whilst the Western Wight - Freshwater, Yarmouth,

Totland Bay, The Needles - exemplified the exclusive, initiate character of a district celebrated for its literary associations and aesthetic properties; the landscape of the painter, geologist, yachtsman and golfer. Whilst the Western Wight was endowed with certain qualities of distancing and demarcation, culturally, the Isle of Wight was primarily perceived in terms of an overall metropolitan perspective. The symbolic setting and juxtaposition of imagery marking one further, final reference to Mais"Island' celebration is instructive. From his vantage point, in leisurely observation on Ashey Down, above

Ryde, Mais revelled in the atmosphere of the chalk upland

... where I have lain through a long summer afternoon with the smell

of wild June roses mingling with the scent of wild thyme and watched

the slow stately procession of transatlantic liners entering Spithead,

the white excursion steamers from Bournemouth and Brighton, and

hundreds of small craft running in and out of Southampton Water as

if they were bees at the entrance of a hive.66

This was the fulsome expression of collective identity and integration.

North Cornwall, by contrast, was defined by its sharp sense of cultural and geographical distance. It is to the company's dramatic presentation of North Cornwall that we now turn and, accordingly, reflect the sense of dual identity that was evident with the

Southern Railway. North Cornwall

Great Western interests in Cornwall were always far more extensive and carried considerably larger impact, overall, than did the rival L.S.W.R./Southern Railway. The latter, arriving much later than the G.W.R., was confined to the sparsely populated and relatively remote district of North Cornwall, where Padstow and Bude were the Southern

Railway's only effective holiday resorts, although Camelford, on the Padstow line, was the railhead for the Arthurian landscapes focused upon Tintagel. Rail services to Bude 200 commenced in August 1898 and to Padstow in March 1899. Despite its geographically remote and restricted location, however, the Southern Railway's literary presentation of ancient, mystical Cornwall did gain somewhat from its closely concentrated location as it leant a sharper sense of thematic focus. North Cornwall was a landscape of open and dramatic proportions and, being free of large centres of population or industrial development, gave itself admirably to the process of cultural adaptation. The G.W.R. territory, whilst serving a far more widespread, diverse system, also included the compromising and extensive industrial tradition of mining with its widespread ancilliary structure, together with the active and large-scale presence of the china-clay industry to contest or compromise its celebration of ancient Celtic characterisation.

Both companies focused upon the unique nature of the Cornish experience but it was the Southern Railway that commissioned the first effective 'modern' literary work on the county - "My Finest Holiday", 1927, S.P.B. Mais, 67 one year before the G.W.R. published its better known work, 'The Cornish Riviera', also written by Mais. Together with 'My Finest Holiday', there was also the earlier 'By Cornish Sea and Moors', 1915 of L.S.W.R. origin, 'The Atlantic Coast Express', Mais; 'Devon and Cornish Days', E.P.

Leigh-Bennett, 1935 and the annual editions of 'Hints for Holidays', the company's handbook. In each case these works celebrated pre-industrial Cornwall in much the same manner and style as the G.W.R. Arthurian Tintagel, the seaside at Bude, Medieval

Launceston and brooding, primeval Bodmin Moor offered extensive scope for dramatic, romantic perspectives and the fascination for a mythical past in a numinous landscape, unique to Britain.

Reference to 'My Finest Holiday' and 'Devon and Cornish Days' left no doubt as to the essential focus of the Southern Railway literary work. Two extracts from

mais' presentation underlined the sense of a unique perspective. 'My Finest Holiday'

included the confident assertion that the North Cornwall coastline represented the fullest

and finest experience of dramatic encounter, not only within the county, but nationally. 201

Focusing on the coastline from Pentire Head, beyond Padstow and looking north-eastward towards Tintagel and Bude, Mais offered up the perspective of the 'sublime'.

Combining an awesome coastline, the former haunt of ancient man conveyed in a context of mystery and, therefore, of imaginative, romantic properties beyond the sphere of historical reference and, in the symbolic figure of the solitary shepherd, dramatic images of contrast - time and eternity, man and nature, the primitive and the modern - were sum- moned to define an atmosphere of deep personal encounter and communion.

Nowhere else in Cornwall and certainly nowhere else in the British

Isles is there any scene to compare in majesty or for that matter in

extent with that which meets the eye as you round Pentire Head and

come onto that strange cliff-castle which the ancients fortified against

a foe of whom we now know nothing. Here, if anywhere, beauty

becomes absolute as one stands looking out over Port Isaac Bay to

Tintagel and, beyond that, forty miles on to Hartland and Lundy.

Strangers have come in their hundreds of thousands from the furth-

est Isles of see the glories of Cornwall at Land's End and the Lizard

and turned away sadly disappointed, not by the view which is superb,

but the inevitable concomitant of undistinguished houses of refresh-

ment and multitudes of fellow-visitors. No such limitation as yet

dims and magnificence of Pentire. There are no houses and, if you

meet a fellow mortal, the odds are that he will be a solitary shepherd

heightening rather than lessening your sense of solitude.68

This was in stark contrast with the imagery and identity of South-East. The latter, built upon both urban and rural perspectives of Englishness, in contemporary form, empha-

sises the identification with demonstrable, historical development whilst Cornwall pri-

marily embodied the sense and experience of difference, drawing upon properties of the

mystical and the sublime, the imaginative, ahistorical identity. 202

Mais offered further evidence of difference in terms of West Country perspectives, observing detailed differentiation between Devon and Cornwall. He wrote of the contrast in broad cultural terms between the essential rural Englishness of Devon and that of

Cornwall - a landscape and cultural tradition presented as that of a distinct realm beyond

England.

The strangely compelling atmosphere of the Duchy begins to make

itself felt as soon as 'The Atlantic Coast Express' begins to leave

Dartmoor in the rear. At one moment you are in comfortable Devon

with its terracotta, warm loam, white cottages and thickly wooded

coombes, all typically English, the next, you are on strange soil,

suddenly thrown back five thousand years in the one British region

the successive centuries have failed to efface all trace of legend and

romance.69

Disdaining "peirrots, jazz-bands, cinemas, boating lakes and promenades," 7° Mais glo-

ried in the perspectives of Celtic saints who, long ago, undertook their mission to

"release wild miners and fisherfolk from the spell of the Druids", 7I and in his celebra-

tion of the landscape of "grass covered barrows, the burial grounds of great chieftains."72

As a further and closely related expression of Cornwall's unique character, Mais

focused upon the nature of the Cornish people themselves. He offered a perspective

which, like that adopted by the G.W.R. in its literature on Cornwall and Southern Ireland,

portrayed and native population in high romanticised ethnically-constructed manner, as

distinctive as the landscape itself and, likewise, endowed with mystical, dramatic dignity.

Different, too, are the people; swarthy, black-haired, handsome, dig-

nified men and women with eyes like glistening great pools, slow-

moving, courteous and kindly with voices soft and musical as the

soughing of the wood through upland firs.73

'Devon and Cornish Days', E.P. Leigh-Bennett, 74 developed the role of unique 203 sense of place in the closer context of Arthurian legend. He offered a romantic encounter with a magical landscape and past, "the perfect place to let the mind dwell upon the chivalry and mystery of his (Arthur's) life and deeds and death."75

And what more fitting setting than this Cornish coast for thoughts of

battleaxe and mail and the valiant wanderings of "the perfect knight."

You will approach it through a rough land of grass slopes and low

walls. The Cornish moors will gloom at you in the distance beyond

the gate; and ever and again, you will catch the glances of the glitter-

ing water of the sea. And all around much about you will hang that

curtain of Cornish romance, the like of which no other county knows.76

In this "colony of contentment," Leigh-Bennett set out the urban-inspired ideal, "with its

green clear seas, its coves and caves and cream. We are so beautifully far away from all

the thoughts of duties, work, turmoil and office trivialities." 77 The explicitly stated con-

trast here was, of course, part of the overall metropolitan agenda driving this literature

an, indeed, the intensity of the experience.

A principal component of this essentially urban perspective was the provision of

modern transportation. As with the G.W.R.'s presentation of Cornwall and the imagery

of 'The Cornish Riviera Express', 'My Finest Holiday' included specific reference to the

high standards of service and efficiency that one would expect from 'The Atlantic Coast

Express'.

All that modern engineering ingenuity can do to make fast railway

travel pleasant and comfortable has been done. Long corridor

coaches, luxuriantly appointed mounted on wonderfully smooth

running bogies, little shaded lights over each seat; clean up-to-date

lavatories and washing accommodation, comfortable restaurant cars

with inexpensive meals efficiently served and the whole train hauled

at express speed by a monster green locomotive of 'Lord Nelson' 204

or 'King Arthur' class - these are contributions of an enterprising

railway management to your holiday pleasures.78

The combination of this obvious material comfort and modernity with the celebration of the wild, primitive, mystical North Cornwall landscape, the dramatic coastline and expansive sandy beaches, exemplified the Southern Railway's place-selling Atlantic

Coast concept. The seaside experience along the North Cornwall coast was, in keeping with the overall theme, presented as something unique in terms of its character, style and quality of service. Thus in 'Devon and Cornish Days,' Leigh-Bennett wrote:

You can have anything you want here except the pier and bandstand

type of holiday. Bude is a place of great character. It bears no resem-

blance to any other seaside resort.79

'Hints for Holidays', 1939, categorised three types of holidaymaker at Bude, these particular delineations conveying the essential character of the resort.

Those who are always active and on the move: those who ask for

little else than a deck-chair and a safe spot for the children to play:

and those who desire above all else unspoiled scenery of rare beauty.80

From the vigours of surfing, tennis, badminton or golf, to the contemplation of

"magnificent Atlantic sunsets for which North Cornwall is renowned," 8I Southern

Railway promotional work evoked the sense of a unique experience and location.

Indeed, the final edition of 'Hints for Holidays' under Southern Railway ownership

(1947) drew a clear distinction between the character of Bude and the type of holiday experience that would not be offered there:

Let it be said at once that Bude has no promenade, no fun fairs, no

amusement arcade and that any interfering or so-called "fairy god-

mother" who provided these things overnight, would be guilty of a

malicious act. To impose artificial developments on Bude would be

a cheapening little short of tragic, so rich is its scenic splendour, so 205

well endowed with opportunities of bathing and sport. Happily,

there is small likelihood of its being vulgarised for those in authority

are anxious to preserve its particular appea1.82

In effect, bude and the overall celebration of the sublime within the North Cornwall landscape, whilst representing a perspective vastly removed from that of the South-East, nevertheless served to focus the latter as the cultural and commercial centre. Through the orientation of contrast, the 'periphery' - eg. North Cornwall - perceived as everything that the South East was not, thereby helped define the 'centre'. Thus the distinctive and much celebrated character of North Devon and North Cornwall was extensively promoted in the Southern Railway's literature, their collective contribution to the company's overall image and identity being proportionately greater than that of their commercial value. In terms of geo-social and cultural-thematic reference, the literally and symboli- cally-distanced West of England locations were not only clearly differentiated from the

South-East and South Coast generally, they also revealed their own, individual identities as in the obvious contrasts of North and East Devon, for example. East Devon's genteel and commercially diffident character, as reflected in Sidmouth, or the pastoral-rural

English perspectives of the Otter Valley, stood in marked contrast with the dramatic

AlpineOinspired associations of the North Devon coastline, while both locations were, again, clearly distinguished from Exeter, the historic and administrative capital of the county.83

South-East England, by comparison, with its close and detailed affiliation to

London and the expression of a fundamentally metropolitan reference in both its seaside and rural identities, was resonant of proximity, mobility and a collective cultural resonance. Kent, for example, was simultaneously the 'Garden of England', the rural, historic landscape and, indeed, the 'Gateway' to and from the Continent." The county could thus reflect each of these perceived constructions as desired. The Metropolitan perspective was definitive in each instance, thus conferring upon the region a marked 206 sense of integrated character and reference which, given the progressive extension off the 'Electric' identity during the inter-war era, was considerably enhanced. The latter,

in contributing to development and categorisation of the South-East, culturally, also intensified the sense of differentiation from other districts beyond, which, for the

Southern Railway, meant the network west of Salisbury and Bournemouth. Indeed, the company's characterisation of its landscape and resorts in the West of England shared an overall identity far closer in character and style to that of the G.W.R. generally than to the South Coast resorts. In certain cases - Bude and Padstow, for example - the presentation was in many respects more conservative than that of the G.W.R. in Cornwall.

Thus, in an overall perspective, the Southern Railway reflected the features of dual

identity in its evident structural, commercial and geo-cultural differentiation, east and west of Salisbury, a factor recognised, in operational and administrative terms, by the transfer of all former Southern Region lines west of Salisbury to the control of the

Western Region, albeit, by British Railways, from 1 January, 1963. 207

REFERENCES - CHAPTER SEVEN

Southern Railway Perspectives

1/ Southern Railway. `Twixt France and Spain, 1930. P7.

2/ Ibid P9.

3/ Southern Railway Magazine, July 1933. P337.

4/ Ibid May, 1938. P205.

5/ Ibid P205.

6/ Ibid December 1938. P446.

7/ Ibid September 1938. P338.

8/ P.R.O. Rail 652-29/32. See also Alan A. Jackson, Semi-Detached London, Wild Swan Publications Ltd., Didcot, 1981.

9/ S.R. Hints For Holidays, 1934, P461.

10/ L.M.S. Holidays By L.M.S., 1938. P805.

11/ Ibid P805.

12/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1937. P101.

13/ Ibid P102.

14/ Ibid P102.

15/ Ibid P101.

16/ Ibid P102.

17/ Ibid P102.

18/ Hints For Holidays, 1939. P541.

19/ Ibid P541.

20/ Advertisement. S.R. Railway Magazine, PX111, June, 1930. 208

21/ Kenneth H. Johnston. British Railways And Economic Recovery. A Sociological Study Of The Transport Problem, Clerke and Cockeran, London. 1949. Johnston, a former member of the Liberal Committee on Transport, Chaired by Seebohm Rowntree, presented an extremely forthright polemical work addressing a broad spectrum of engineering, administrative organisational, commercial, medical/welfare, aesthetic and political factors in pursuit of his case.

22/ Ibid P87.

23/ Ibid P87.

24/ S.P.B. Mais. Southern Rambles For Londoners, Southern Railway, 1931. P3.

25/ G.t. Moody, Southern Electric, Ian Allan, London, 1957. P85.

26/ S.P.B. Mais, Southern Rambles P7.

27/ Ibid P8.

28/ Raphael Samuel. Theatres Of Memory, Verso, London, New York, 1994. P161.

29/ C.R. Leslie. Memoirs Of The Life Of John Constable, Phaidon, London. 1951. P105.

30/ Black's Watering Places. Where Shall We Go? A.C. Black, Edinburgh, 1869 P20.

31/ Hints For Holidays 1931 P491.

32/ Southern Railway. Winter Holidays In Southern England, 1929/30. P93.

33/ Hints For Holidays, 1934. P474.

34/ Ibid 1934. P478.

35/ Ibid P478.

36/ Ibid 1939 P538.

37/ Ibid P538

38/ S.P.B. Mais. Walking At Weekends, Southern Railway, 1936, P62. The Southern Railway offered many such images in dramatic juxtaposition as in the radio broadcast to American stations. "The Route Of The Golden Arrow" - The Garden Of England from the 'Window of the Continental Boat Express.' P.R.O. Rail 1080-587 Min. 1211. 209

39/ Ibid P62.

40/ Hints For Holidays, 1934. P351.

41/ Ibid P351.

42/ Ibid P351.

43/ S.R, Hints For Holidays, 1939 P348.

44/ See Hints For Holidays, 1934, 'Winchester', P265m and E.P. Leigh-Bennett, Devon and Cornish Days, S.R. 1935, 'Exeter', PP41-43.

45/ Hints For Holidays, 1947. P115. Bournemouth was the closest South Coast approximation to the French Riviera. Comparisons between, for example, the S.R.'s 'Peerless Riviera', 'The Summer Time Riviera', or `Twixt France and Spain', and the imagery and stylistic presentation of Bournemouth indicate this quite clearly.

46/ Ibid P115.

47/ Ibid P115.

48/ H.P. White. A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain - Volume 2, Southern England, David and Charles, Newton Abbot. 1961, P160.

49/ John K. Walton and James Walvin, ed., Leisure in Britain, 1780-1939, Manchester University Press, Manchester. 1983. Richard Roberts. The Corporation as impresario: the municipal provision of entertainment in Victorian and Edwardian Bournemouth. PP 138-157.

50/ Hints for Holidays, 1939. P282.

51/ Ibid P282.

52/ Ibid P243.

53/ Hints For Holidays, 1947. P115.

54/ Ward-Lock Guide. Bournemouth and District, London, 1934. P44.

55/ Hints for Holidays, 1939, P246.

56/ Ibid P247.

57/ Ward-Lock. Bournemouth, 1934. P47.

58/ Hints For Holidays, 1939, P298/199, 210

59/ Ward-Lock Guide, Bournemouth, 1934 P67.

60/ Ibid P67: The proximity to the New Forest and to Hardy's Dorset conferred further historical, literary and aesthetic resonance as did the numerous steamer trips to and around the Isle of Wight, the Dorset coast and to Southampton, with all the latter's attendant international associations.

61/ S.R. Hints For Holidays, 1934. P453.

62/ S.R. Hints For Holidays, 1939. P477.

63/ S.P.B. Mais. Isles Of The Island, Putnam, London. 1934, Preface XIII.

64/ Ibid Pref. XII.

65/ S.P.B. Mais, Southern Rambles For Londoners. Southern Railway c1930.

66/ S.P.B. Mais. Isles Of Island Pref. XIII. Similar, thematically, t o the earlier references to rural-urban identifications in juxtaposition, Mais was here drawing on earlier literary representations of the Isles of Wight, notably those of the Rev. Gilpin's eighteenth century celebration of the Picturesque perspective and that detailed in Belson's Hand Book To The Isles Of Wight, Nelson, London, 1877. The latter, detailed the panoramic prospect from Ashey Down detailing the widely ranging landscapes of the inland, rural districts resonant of tradition and continuity and those by contrast, of the Solent and the Hampshire coastline in the opposite direction. See Nelson, P117. These works addressed the relationship between the observer and their rural location, and that of the observed. Mais' pivotal and evidently rural setting in relation to the sea and the shipping in the Solent (representing movement, shifting perspectives and notions of distance and travel) whilst clearly differentiated are, nevertheless, thematically integrated through the process of perception, either implicitly, intuitively, or by explicit articulation. This and the various other examples of this culturally constructed dialectical process, reflected the considerable subtlety that characterised what would otherwise be descriptive detail consistent with any such railway guide-book.

67/ S.P.B. Mais. My Finest Holiday, Southern Railway. 1927.

68/ Ibid P12.

69/ Ibid P3.

70/ Ibid P4.

71/ Ibid P4. 211

72/ Ibid P4.

73/ Ibid P4.

74/ E.P. Leigh-Bennett. Devon and Cornish Days, Southern Railway, 1934.

75/ Ibid P8.

76/ Ibid P8.

77/ Ibid P8.

78/ S.P.B. Mais. Finest Holiday, P19.

79/ E.P. Leigh-Bennett. Devon and Cornish Days. P14.

80/ Hints For Holidays, 1939. P19.

81/ Ibid P20.

82/ Ibid 1947 ed P15.

83/ Compare the content and style of Mais' works 'Lets Get Out Of Here', S.R. 1937, covering East Devon and the companion volume, 'Walks In North Devon', S.R. 1928. 212

CHAPTER EIGHT Somerset: The County Concept

This project has, so far, considered the Great Western's literature from various thematic perspectives: the historical, rural and aesthetic constructions, the seaside context within the overall 'Ocean Coast' identity and the cultural, intellectual and essential commercial dimensions. In its published form, however, the Great Western's literature followed a very clear county and county/regional format. Until 1931, 'Holiday Haunts' presented each county in turn, alphabetically. Thereafter, presentation followed a regional structure that comprised seven sections. The first section, as Chapter One has shown, was devoted principally to London and, thereafter, to the relevant southern counties within the G.W.R.'s operational sphere. The most important section after London itself was, undoubtedly, the West of England and the dominant counties of Cornwall,

Devon and Somerset. Collectively, this region exemplified the 'Holiday Line' and

'Ocean Coast' ethos, essential to Great Western imagery. Given the country and region- ally-based format of the company literature, it is appropriate that this work should reflect that presentational content and style. Thus, the county concept, as in Somerset, wherein the Great Western offered all the various representations of Englishness as examined and pursued in this work overall. The Wider West Country

Given the overwhelming popularity of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset as tourist attractions, the G.W.R. had to ensure that each of them, whilst sharing the same general regional location, did not enter into direct competition with each other. All three had their own definitive characteristics but, essentially, Devon and Somerset had more in common with each other than did either of them with Cornwall. In overall economic, aesthetic and cultural terms, Devon and Somerset were presented as definitively English 213 in character, whereas Cornwall was perceived to be strongly Celtic and manifestly unique - the end result of a revivalist approach to Cornish history from within the county and from the direct involvement of the G.W.R. in shaping a desired Cornish imagery, as conceived and implemented by Paddington. Thus was created the concept of 'The

Cornish Riviera'. Devon and Somerset were, of course, also subject to reinvention but the degree of creative construction was less radical than in the case of Cornwall where, in the eighteenth and, particularly, the nineteenth century, the mining tradition, closely associated with Methodism, established the county as a leading industrial area.'

Devon and Somerset did not experience detailed structural change in social, economic and cultural terms. Their traditional rural identities were celebrated by the

G.W.R. emphasising the sense of historic continuity with Anglo-Saxon England.

Predominantly Anglican and rural, Devon and Somerset reflected veery different traditions from both Celtic Cornwall and, indeed, the county's industrial, Methodist cultural background of the nineteenth century. 2 The definitive agricultural identity and the related architectural and structural features of Devonian and Somersetshire villages also contrasted sharply with those in Cornwall. Sandstone and limestone, cob and thatch, gave

Devon and Somerset their essential Englishness - a softer, pastoral image than that of

Cornwall's granite and extensive moorland character. Moreover, even Devon and

Somerset's former cottage industries shared distinct similarities of organisation, structure and pursuit, contrasting sharply with the Cornish experience. But, granted their various similarities, Maxwell Fraser was also anxious to show how the two counties dif- fered. In 'The Golden West of England', 1930, we read:

The transition from the pastel shades of Somerset to the vivid col-

ouring of Devon is extraordinarily abrupt. Somerset has a mellow

loveliness in keeping with its glorious traditions. Devon pulsates

with colour and life, each brilliant colour intensifying the other

until it seems that no sea can be so blue, no sands so golden, and no 214

cliffs or soil so red as those of Devon. Nothing is done by halves.3

To the east, and Somerset's border with Wiltshire, 'Through the Window, Paddington-

Penzance', drew upon further imagery of landscape and association in order to differen- tiate:

The [Wiltshire] Plain, magnificently barbaric, makes us think of

Celts and Druids, the more kindly landscape of Somerset suggests

dairy farming, creamy milk and fat cheeses.4

Like Cornwall, both Devon and Somerset developed their 'Ocean Coast' credentials. Cornwall was considered to be the finest expression of the 'Ocean Coast' whilst

Devon, with its distinguished maritime tradition, exploited its obvious advantages over

Somerset's more limited potential in this respect. Of the West Country's seaside tradition, Devon's south coast resorts were both the oldest and largest, dating from the

Napoleonic era and were much enhanced by the early and prominent presence of the railway, dating from 1846. Early railway development was also the case at Weston-Super-

Mare, where, again, the combination of easy access, given the resort's favourable geographical location and the enterprising character of the local authorities, guaranteed the town's reputation as Somerset's leading seaside resort. No such comparable circumstances applied in Cornwall, where tourism developed much later and in a more piece- meal style that was frequently part of a broader mixed economic structure, sharing its development with indigenous trades and industries and not without conflict. Newquay was the G.W.R.'s only Cornish resort dedicated totally to tourism. "Smiling Somerset"

In his introduction to 'Somerset and Dorset' in the 1939 edition of 'Holiday

Haunts', Mais observed: "Somerset perhaps suffers from her proximity to Devon and

Cornwall."5 But if this suggested that the county was overshadowed by its western neighbours, presenting something of a Cinderella status, he also declared Somerset to be

"England in epitome."6 This was an apt characterisation, clearly corresponding to the 215 received perspectives as to landscape, history and tradition, and especially for the obvious and declared absence of industrial districts. In its evident celebration of Somerset's rural, traditional character, this perspective was very closely identified, in imagery and thematic acclaim, with that of the Cotswolds. But the G.W.R.'s presentation of the county in the collective county context reflected a much wider, multi-dimensional representation than that celebrated in the Cotswold construction. The rural characterisation was certainly prominent but the cultural agenda and the stylistic perspectives that defined the company's portrait of Somerset confirmed Mais' conclusion. "England in epitome" also serves thematically and structurally, in offering an overview of this project generally.

'Holiday Haunts', 1935, included a statement of the county's essential rural, historical identity which it linked, thematically, with neighbouring Dorset, evoking the collective cultural resonance of 'Wessex:' "a vast pastoral district where a serene peace reigns."

The agricultural pursuits of the ancient Saxon are still the chief live-

lihood of Wessex men today . . . Industrial centres on a large scale

are unknown but rich manor houses, wonderful castles and beauti-

ful cathedrals and abbeys abound. Prehistoric, Roman and Saxon

remains delight the antiquarian.7

'Somerset Ways' offered abundant traditionally-inspired imagery from every part of the county. Minehead's celebrated Quay Town district, for example, was described in the language of the rural ideal.

... a cluster of ancient cottages grouped at the foot and on the lower

slopes of North Hill, vividly white and cream, set against the dark

green background and sending each of them a spiral of blue peat

smoke upward.8

Dunster was considered "the village where all the most perfect beauty of the centuries is gathered up preserved and consecrated."9 The surrounding countryside was equally 216 evocative, being that of "willow fringed streams, ploughed land where the wheat stands stiff and golden and silver blue oats stir and quiver with every lazy breath of the summer wind." lo Likewise, the villages of the orchard and pasture country of the Polden district were "flower-bowered homes of broadest Somerset where the only times of day are sun- rise, high-noon and sunset, where the only day of the week is Sunday."

'Somerset Ways' presented a portrait of the Polden district that was very similar in content and style to that of Edward Thomas' earlier work, 'The South County,' 1909.12

Heavily sensuous, with an extremely hypnotic attention to detail, it was quietly eloquent of a rich tradition of harmony, order and Somerset's deep peace. It was a presentation which, paradoxically, owed nothing to the twentieth century in terms of its projected imagery and identity and almost everything in terms of the historiographical identity, aesthetics and socio-political perspectives. The detailed, intimate style was part of the

G.W.R.'s studied presentation of Somerset landscapes within a structure of contrasting perspectives; here, in close, intimate detail, as against, for example, the broad panoramas of the nearby Polden Hills, the Mendip range or, indeed, the coastal flats and seascapes.

Here is a country of grassland and orchards; a land of quiet lanes

leading to bedrowsed farms where deep-eyed glossy cattle stand

contemplative in the shade, quiet and motionless save for a head-

shake or switching of tail ti disturb the tickling flies . . . field paths

and styles are here, leading through ripening corn rustling with every

fragrant puff of wind, or through luscious knee-high meadow grass

sprinkled with yellow gems of buttercups. And all around is the

quiet softness of the tree-studded, gently swelling hills.13

From grassland to orchard, aesthetic harmony was paramount.

There are nowhere else such orchards as those in the Polden country.

With the tall grass, later scythe-mown for hay, between the long

lines of rough-barked trunks, snowed under a froth of airy pink and 217

white or almost breaking beneath the weight of their red and golden

harvest, they seem so natural, so part and parcel of the countryside

that they do not strike you as of man's planting, it is as if it was

Nature's plan to have them so.14

Representations of the natural order of things - the stability and harmony of the organic community suggested stylistically in the numerous qualifying adjectives and the extended, close-detailed sentence construction - carried attendant political and cultural dimensions as emotionally compelling as that of the aesthetic experience. This was well exemplified in the G.W.R.'s celebration of the shire counties across the company's network. But the principle of harmony, however alluring, was nevertheless defined by

implicit and, indeed, an explicitly hierarchical structure, as in the clearly defined repre-

sentations of great house, yeoman farmer and cottager; the recognised gradations of the

village community or estate, or, in the more subtle portrait of landscape delineated in the

cultural lexicon of order and contentment. Thus, Maxwell Fraser's 'Somerset', and the

Vale of Taunton Deane:

Mellow old farmhouses and sturdy cottages are trim and picturesque

reflecting the prosperity of their owners and everywhere there is

happy laughter and contentment.I5

The Quantocks likewise, reflected "their air of rich contentment", wherein,

Rich manor houses, fine old farms and charming cottages are to be

seen, but no factories or even towns to disturb the suggestion of

ancient peace and plenty.I6

Looking to an alternative perspective, the G.W.R. considered the mystical proper-

ties of landscape. 'Somerset Ways' offered the Levels at Athelney and the seemingly

spartan but essentially sensuous nature of that district in its various seasonal guises cel-

ebrating colour, texture, shape and light. The rhythmical properties of the writing here

emphasised the qualities of mystery and silence; the mystically-charged landscape 218 resonant of King Alfred.

A strange land is this, flat marshy meadows, damp in the driest of

times, where fine corn and rich grasses mature in the burning earthy

summer heat. Few trees are here save for the willows and the sun

beats down continually drawing the moisture from the earth and giv-

ing a humid growing tang to the still air. Thus in summer, when

winter brings mist, rain or sleet, the firmest roads are soft to the

foot and the haze of moisture cuts close the view over the pearl

laden meadows and along the full black ditches. Here at Athelney

are osier beds, wide cultivated marsh pools, shallow and brackish

where at harvest time thick forests of head-high reeds, straight,

stiff and close packed, stand yellow in the sunlight ready to be cut

and shaved for thatch and baskets.17

The West Somerset levels also linked Alfred with Arthur; Athelney with Avalon. In the

G.W.R.'s characterisation of the county as 'England in epitome', Glastonbury and the

Arthurian, 'Celtic' resonance simultaneously affirmed and compromised this appelation.

Glastonbury provided the ideal setting for the expression of the mystical, hierarchical properties of perception, but was of problematic identification in ethnic terms, given its fundamentally 'Celtic' provenance. Glastonbury was the focus of the Celtic Church in Western Britain in the fifth century, a foundation symbolised by King Arthur as defender of that culture against pagan Anglo-Saxon invaders. For Maxwell Fraser,m

'Somerset', 1934, Glastonbury was "a dream come true to most visitors." 18 She also specifically identified and sanctioned them socially and culturally, as eager but informed pilgrims: "Arriving with all the tender and romantic legends of Glastonbury filling their minds." 19 The author of 'Somerset Ways', 1928, likewise declared: ... there is no spot in the world so woven around with mystic webs of fable and romance as this. No spot can hold more wondrous store of legends. .. 20 The town was considered "disappointing", 219 but the abbey fulfilled all expectations. "Here still lingers the haze of myth and legend;"21 it was, "the sweet grey ruin set in a sea of green.. ."22 and, significantly, "a place to muse in, where feeling may well usurp the use of thought." 23 'Somerset Ways' then

invited the reader to indulge in the aesthetic appreciation of the abbey as ruins, but, again

significantly, as clearly-defined ruins, carefully contextualised to express received ideals

of cultural authority, aesthetic harmony and spectacle. Both the abbey and the Tor, near-

by, were superlative examples of historical buildings performing the role of agents or

mediators.

No paved mosaic is here, no roof to veil the splendour of the skies.

Straight from the close, clean turf the walls rise grey, time ravaged,

beautiful, pierced by arch and window space and with great gaps and

broken lines where parts have paid the penalty of age. Not even the

great undamaged Church could be more beautiful, ,nor impressive

than these fragments, carpeted with great trees to fill the gaps that

time and the violence of man have made.24

The sentiment and focus here was conclusively aesthetic; the celebration of the sub-

lime - the abbey, as a picturesque ruin, serving as a vehicle for emotional reference and

identity. A comparison between Maxwell Fraser's 'Somerset,' 1934, or 'Somerset

Ways', 1928, and the earlier 'Abbeys', G.W.R., 1925 by M.R. James. The latter being a

detailed academic work of historical scholarship, clearly reflects the quite distinct per-

spectives directed at Glastonbury. James acknowledged that the origins of its religious

foundation were indeed lost in the mists of antiquity and myth, but he offered no specu-

lation.25 In all but James' work, however, the aesthetic and historical setting of the

abbey and the `Avalonian' environment, generally, acted as a powerful, inspirational

spring, allowing the mind to take an almost completely unfettered flight. Thus, the

detailed recourse to Arthurian legend and myth that, in its mystically indefinable and

elusive perceptions of landscape and personage, provided the means of gratifying the 220

experiential encounter with nature and antiquity. It was an experience free of the con-

straints of history: the recurrent thematic reference to an ostensible apolitical and his-

torical perspective - the aestheticisation of history - a construction that ran counter to the

otherwise historicised 'English' imagery.

'Somerset Ways' asserted the primacy of mythopoeic perceptions in shedding, "a

far truer light on the thoughts and lives of our ancestors than can any recital of historic

fact,"26 but also included outline historical detail before moving to the central preoccu-

pation: the participation in the spirit of the place and the identification with the past as,

in Wright's concept of "a celebration of indivisible heritage as a kind of sacrament."27

Encouraged to leave aside historical detail, the Great Western advised its readers:

Let us leave such thoughts of art and (historical) periods and in the

deep hushed peace that falls around the ruins as the sun declines, let

us remember those who have stood here, have knelt in the days now

misty with the time between. Here came King Arthur, patten true-

knight, here came his bride to him and here they rest even now.

Lancelot, Galahad and brave Sir Belverdere and all that gallant com-

pany have trod the ground which now we tread. And Merlin cast

his spells about the place before those great stone walls were raised

- while Avalon's church was a wattle hut, before the name Christian

was known, where Winchester and York now stand.28

The communion with the landscape and the imagined past was also prominent in reference to other distinguished sites, as in Stonehenge and Maiden Castle, near Dorchester, where, to those of sensitive, discerning disposition, the great Iron Age fortifications "for all their dumbness, speak like sounding brasses to those whose love of antiquity lends their imagination power to re-people these great relics of untold centuries ago."29

Looking back much further in time than that of King Alfred's Athelney, or

Arthurian Glastonbury, Cheddar offered the experience of the primeval. The Cheddar 221

Valley was famous for its strawberries and its cheeses, but was best known for the caves in the Cheddar Gorge itself. The Ward-Lock Guide to the area, 1924 edition, considered a visit here to be a priority for all tourists.

Whatever else the tourist in Somerset may leave unseen, it will be a

matter of a lifelong regret to him if he misses Cheddar. The cliffs,

grand and awe inspiring though they are, may be matched elsewhere,

but the caves, with their beauty of form and colouring, are in this

country unique.30

'Holiday Haunts' offered a broader approach to Cheddar, looking initially at the overall location and setting and introducing the element of contrast in broad aesthetic

and cultural contexts. Attention was drawn to the distinction between the character of

the Gorge and the surrounding Somerset countryside and to the added sense of interest

this offered the visitor.

This vast chasm would be overwhelmingly impressive in any setting,

but its strange contrast with the smiling countryside of Somerset,

rich in the pastoral charms so essentially English, adds to the imp-

ressiveness of the Gorge.31

There was further specific contrast. The Gorge had two sets of caves. Cox's Cavern and

Gough's Caves. Both were lit by electricity in order to gain the maximum effect from

the colours, shapes and textures of stalactites, limestone formations and water effects,

but Gough's Caves offered an extra attraction - a strange juxtaposition of the ancient,

natural landscape with conspicuously modern development. The Great Western

Magazine for August, 1935, gave details in a feature on the new under-water restaurant

at the entrance to Gough's Caves, expressing general approval.

The proprietor of Gough's Caves has determined that the enormous

appeal of their priceless natural endowments shall be enhanced by

modern, mundane amenities and much skill and imagination have 222

been used in planning a magnificent new restaurant and snack bar

which nestle at the base of the gigantic rocks overhanging the caves

• . . Everything is modern to the last degree. The buildings are con-

structed of a special concrete of the same colour as the freshly cut

Cheddar rock so that they should age into even greater harmony with

their surroundings.

The restaurant is known as the "Cave Man" in honour of the skeleton

of a prehistoric man discovered in one of the caves. This skeleton,

carefully encased, is open to the inspection of visitors, as are the

numerous flints, ancient coins and other antiquities found in the caves.

The unique feature of the commodious 'Cave Man' restaurant is its

roof of glass, holding a foot of water supplied by spray fountains and

in this overhead lake are to be seen hundreds of swiftly-gliding gold-

fish •32

At nearby Wookey Hole there were yet more spectacular caves - the 'Witches

Chamber', 75 feet in height, "where, against a background of rock, is a strange sphinx- like stalagmite formation known as the Witch of Wookey." 33 There was also the spectacle of the subterranean River Axe and the "Hyena's Den." The latter was named as such on account of the discovery there of both animal and human bones estimated to be some 40,000 years old. Wookey was also subject to detailed modern development as the

G.W.R. Magazine reported.

Not resting content with these natural and historical features, nor with

its excellent situation, the properties have now vastly broadened and

enhanced the appeal of Wookey by the provision on the site of the

"Witching Water", a luxurious open-air swimming pool and a "Pixies

Pool" (for children and non-swimmers). At night the swimming pool

and its surroundings are floodlit while the excellent restaurant is a 223

fairy land of coloured lights . .34

The contrast of ancient and modern, nature and artifice, was a particular feature at

Cheddar, given its growing tourist identity and thus reflected a useful example of the increasing provision of large-scale organised entertainment and modern amenities during the Thirties; not, however, to everyone's liking. Naomi Royd-Smith's 'Pilgrim from

Paddington', 1934, asserted: "The most satisfactory place in Cheddar is the railway station."35 In sharp contrast with the Gorge and its carparks, constant traffic and restless crowds with their "chocolate slabs and Lyons ice-cream in cartons,"36 Cheddar railway station offered "a peaceful haven from the Gorge." Describing the architectural features of the latter as reminiscent of the secular style of the Eleventh Century, obviously a com- pliment, she noted that, even in the early thirties, the station has seen better days.

"Passengers have ebbed away from the railway; but strawberries remain." 37 Amongst

several references to rural railway stations, 'Pilgrim from Paddington' also included the following description of Axbridge on the Cheddar Valley line.

It is not only the Yucca I had seen in passing, that blooms richly at the

station at Axbridge - other flowers grow and clamber there; various

kinds of rock plants are now in bloom on the hillside platforms and

a crimson rambler bearing tiny red single roses, embowers the open-

fronted shed of a waiting room. On the booking office and goods-

yard side there are more flower beds and, there, a kissing-gate leads

into the churchyard.38

This was no mere physical description alone: it was statement of Englishness celebrat-

ing peace and contentment, definitive of a perceived rural order that clearly included the

railway. Stylistically, flowers "camber" and "bloom" on "hillside platforms," roses

"embower" the waiting room and "flower beds" and "a kissing gate" mark the path to

the churchyard. This was the iconography of rural-pastoral England that most latterday

heritage railway interests are keen to celebrate. 224

In further dimensions of Somerset as the haunt of ancient peace, Wells was confirmed by the Great Western as the 'City of Peace.' Both 'Somerset Ways', a co-production for the G.W.R. during the mid-twenties and Maxwell Fraser's better known,

'Somerset', published by the company in 1934, reserved the superlatives for this West

Country cathedral city. The cathedral defined the community. For Maxwell Fraser it was "a unique and perfect survival of the past; a place where the hand of progress has fallen lightly, respecting the beauty and peace of this living link with our forefathers."39

Fraser missed no opportunity to emphasise the sense of perfection expressed through aesthetic harmony and continuity with the past.

During the Middle Ages there were many such cities but wars and

spoilation culminating in the Dissolution wrought havoc with all but

Wells. Other great cathedrals survive, but only at Wells are the whole

of the ecclesiastical buildings still standing.

The builders of this glorious cathedral not only designed one of the

greatest and most splendid churches in the kingdom, but enhanced

their work by planning a perfect setting of a spacious Close with

smooth tree-shaded lawns flanked by buildings which are a perfect

complement to the vast and stately minster.40

Having heaped praise upon the cathedral, Maxwell Fraser reinforced one of her favourite themes - the celebration of the past as the source of inspiration, contentment and peace, albeit supported sensitively by modern conveniences.

The City of Wells though of ancient foundation is far smaller than

many modern towns, a place of ease and contentment refusing to bow

to the modern craze for senseless speed and noise, but progressive

enough to adopt any modern amenity which adds to the pleasure and

comfort of life.41

'Wonderful Wessex' (1908) considered Wells to be "the English Bruges."42 225

If Wells was the English Bruge, Bath was "the English Athens." The city leant itself ideally to the celebration of the rural, historical characterisation of England and

Englishness. Great Western promotional work took every opportunity to emphasise the superlatives. 'Wonderful Wessex' pronounced Bath the "English athens; The premier

'Spa' of the British Empire," 43 whilst Maxwell Fraser's later 'Somerset' stressed its

"beauty and serenity against a background of history and tradition."44 She also directed the cultural characterisation.

There is the Bath of the Britons, that half-legendary town founded by

Bladud father of Shakespeare's King Lear; Bath of the Romans, who

left a legacy of the splendid Roman Baths; Bath of the Georgians,

with its brilliant social and literacy associations and its carefree gaiety;

the Bath of Jane Austen with its deliciously shy humour; the Bath of

Dickens and Mr. Pickwick with its robust jollity and good cheer, and

a hundred other equally engrossing phases of life and history.45

Whereas, 'Somerset' went on to concentrate upon Bath's historical development, the much earlier 'Wonderful Wessex' indulged in a conspicuous celebration of Bath's literary identity. 'Somerset Ways', however, focused upon the architectural heritage and exquisite, natural setting for the city.

Man has wrought well at Bath, and never was Nature in more boun-

tiful mood than when she moulded this cup among the hills with the

Avon wandering across it.46

Harmony and natural order prevailed, not least, in the countryside surrounding the city, considered by 'Somerset Ways' to be the epitome of rural Englishness - "soft round- ed hills, wood and thicket, wide lush meadows fragrant with meadowsweet with the

Avon slipping its pallisades of rush and willow herb," 47 Here, "the meadows were richest, the woods deepest and the world and its worries most distant."48

Historical continuity wedded to aesthetic excellence gave Bath special distinction. 226

Glorying in the Roman antiquities, the Anglo-Saxon heritage, the Tudor Perpendicular cathedral and, ultimately, the creation of the fashionable Georgian watering place with its Pump Rooms, Baths, its elegant town houses and public parks and gardens, the city expressed the desired features of pre-industrial England that were so clearly celebrated in the G.W.R.'s historical perspective.

Bath was served by three railway companies. In addition to the G.W.R., the most significant of the three, the L.M.S. and Southern Railway also ran services, primarily on the north-south axis from the Midlands and North to the south coast at Bournemouth, via the Somerset and Dorset route. Great Western literature on Bath was inevitably the most detailed and extensive, by comparison with the rival L.M.S. and Southern companies, who gave no special distinction to the city in their literature.

The aesthetic and historic character of Bath was acknowledged by the G.W.R. from the company's earliest days. Brunel's route east-west through the city incorporated particularly distinguished architectural features - over bridges, castellated embankments and tunnels and graceful viaducts for the River Avon to harmonise as closely as possible with both natural landscape and the prevailing Georgian architecture. Also, in keeping with

the rural character of the approaches to Bath, east and west - and as a visible expression

of the historic character of the city and, no less, of the dignity of the railway company

serving it - Brunel provided decorative portals for the west end of Box Tunnel to the east

of Bath; likewise, at Middle Hill Tunnel, nearer the city, and at Twerton Tunnel, to the

west of the station.

In final reference to the rural, historical identity of Somerset and to sustain the

theme of distinctive architecture and history, we can refer to another feature of the land-

scape celebrated in Great Western literature. An article from the G.W.R. Magazine of

August 1934, 'Some Market Crosses in Great Western Territory,' 49 noted the extensive

provision of these medieval structures within the county, relative to other counties across

the G.W.R. network, generally. 227

The opening paragraph set the theme of historical and cultural representation:

The market place is one of civilisation's oldest institutions and in our

own country has a recorded history of over a thousand years . . . It

happens that the territory served by the Great Western Railway is part-

icularly rich in historic market towns.5°

Having made the identification of railway with community, continuity and place, the author included several notable Somersetshire examples. Dunster's "low gabled building which spreads itself across the High-Street,"51 was considered the best known picturesque of the market hall version of these structures within the entire G.W.R. territory.

Elsewhere, that at Somerton was noted. The stone cross encircled by a stone canopy at

Shepton Mallet was described as "decorative and graceful . . . among the most notewor- thy in the country."52 Cheddar's market cross was also considered well worthy of inclusion in the article. More an expression of identity and relationship than a detailed reference to this architectural form, the Great Western was evidently celebrating received symbols of community and Englishness.

This short survey of Somerset has so far focused upon the historical and rural identity. But the county also presented its 'Ocean Coast' credentials in the form of its

`Severn Sea' resorts and it is to the seaside tradition that we turn for final reference.

The seaside identity was most fully expressed in Weston Super Mare, the largest of

Somerset's resorts, but was also well represented at Minehead, Burnham-on-Sea,

Clevedon and Portishead, each one catering extensively for family holidays. Clevedon was described in the 1937 edition of 'Holiday Haunts' as 'The Brain-Worker's Paradise':

`The Ideal Resort for the City Worker seeking Peaceful and Refreshing Holidays combined with Healthy Recreation.' 53 The urban provenance of the seaside mythology made very clear here, but Clevedon, after the style of a miniature Torquay or Bournemouth, was presented as a resort of "picturesque irregularity" of hills, bay and seafront, a place where "woods invade the very heart of the town." 54 Literary associations - Tennyson, 228

Thackery and Coleridge - guaranteed its cultural credentials. 'Holiday Haunts', 1936 edition, also evoked the essential mythology of the English seaside in a seemingly routine description of the beach at Burnham-on-Sea, "The Kiddies' Paradise", resonant of the seaside myth in its very simplicity and heavily nostalgic, today.

The seven mile sweep of golden sands and the big paddling pool are

the playground of merry children who busily dig and paddle or glee-

fully indulge in the supreme joy of a donkey ride.55

This was clearly the literary counterpart of the numerous poster and photographic prints of children at play - definitive iconography, common to all four railway companies - celebrating the spontaneous delights of the beach. The front-cover of the G.W.R.'s

'Holiday Haunts', 1939 and that of the Southern Railway's 'Hints for Holidays', also

1939, were direct expressions of this seaside perspective.

'Holiday Haunts' stressed the family image of all Somerset's resorts, especially that

at Western-Super-Mare. The 1937 edition, for example - with its topical front-cover sea-

side/Coronation imagery - portrayed Weston as having "the cheerful air of a town that is

popular and glories in the fact."56 Maxwell Fraser's 'Somerset' echoed this:

Gay, friendly Weston Super Mare welcoming all its visitors and proud

to be known as the largest holiday resort between Lancashire and

Land's End. Instead of angling after exclusiveness, it bends all its

energies towards making itself more attractive to holiday makers and

to tourists, pursuing the policy indicated in its Civic motto of 'Ever

Forward', and ceaselessly endeavouring to anticipate the demands of

its guests.57

Progressive and democratic in character and style, Weston was praised by the Great

Western for its particularly creative response to tourism. 'Holiday Haunts' acknowl-

edged:

. . . the wizardry of the Weston Town Council who are exceedingly 229

progressive and have courageously undertaken schemes for beautify-

ing the town which have already more than justified the extreme ex-

pense incurred.58

The spacious and graceful promenade was a nineteenth century investment being constructed between 1883 and 1887 and, thereafter, much extended and developed.59

Likewise, there was an abundance of park and garden facilities, two piers, - the Grand

and Birnbeck Pier, the latter being served by Bristol Channel steamer services to South

Wales and the Somerset and North Devon holiday resorts. There was also a fun-fair on

the Birnbeck Pier offering the experience of "a water-chute, a switch-back railway,

swings and other delirious delights." 60 July 1927 saw the formal opening of Weston's

famous Pavilion and Cafe with its Italian Gardens, much praised by the G.W.R. Sir

Ernest Palmer, Bart, Deputy Chairman of the G.W.R. officiated; Sir Felix Pole, General

Manager, G.W.R. was also present, underlining the company's close relationship with

the resort. 61 The 1937 season saw the provision of Weston's newly completed and lav-

ishly equipped open-air swimming pool, catering for 1,400 swimmers and 5,000 specta-

tors.

Maxwell Fraser reinforced the prevailing sense of a dedicated pleasure resort in

'Somerset', again stressing the family image with the accent on fun and unrestricted

enjoyment.

Weston's provision for the amusement of its visitors is on a lavish

scale. The Marine Lake has boats of various types with a popular

feature in the specially constructed harbour for children's paddling

boats. A paddling pool has also been built. .. Bathing huts and enc-

losures and a splendid diving raft are also provided. There is a model

yacht pond; and a day nursery where parents can leave their children

to play under the care of a trained nurse.62

Weston Super Mare again co-operated with the G.W.R. in May 1946 to organise and 230 fund the "Kiddies Express" - the first day excursion from Paddington to the seaside in the post-war era. Hailed as "the Brighton of Bristol," 63 Weston was identified as the

West Country's equivalent of the London-Brighton, city-seaside relationship on the

South Coast. Drawing upon large-scale tourist traffic from Bristol, the Midlands and from Paddington itself, together with both rail and sea links with South Wales, Weston secured its identity and status as a major-league resort.

Further west, Minehead was promoted as "The Garden Paradise of the West . . .

Where glorious Exmoor meets the Sea."64 Minehead station was situated virtually on the seafront, underlining the Great Western's 'Holiday Line' imagery. The Great

Western Magazine, in 1934 and 1936, recorded significant improvements in tourist provision. The Council purchased twelve acres of Pine Woods on the town's notable landmark on North Hill, whilst new gardens were laid out on the lower slopes of the hill and on the seafront as part of a Jubilee commemoration. In the following year, Sir Robert

Home, Chairman of the G.W.R., opened Minehead's new open-air swimming pool, also on the seafront. Considered an important modern amenity for the town, the G.W.R.

Magazine gave details promoting the modern progressive image.

The pool has a capacity of 400,000 gallons; it is supplied with filtered

and purified sea water and there is accommodation for nearly 2,000

spectators. A restaurant and buffet bar add to the general amenities

and powerful floodlighting will enable the pool to be used for night

swimming and entertainments.65

The 1939 edition of 'Holiday Haunts' summarised the character of Somerset's

'Severn Sea' coast, reflecting its comprehensive identity.

Somerset's coastal resorts range from large and cheerful towns to tiny

clusters of houses which are the haunt of an infinite peace.66

Thus Blue Anchor, the diminutive seaside location, three miles east of Minehead, on

the branch lien from Taunton, was provided with camping coaches in the thirties in 23 1 recognition of the location's potential in terms of a popularist, family seaside identity.

But there was also an earlier, contrasting cultural identity for the Blue Anchor district.

Turner had painted on this shore line focusing upon Minehead's distant North Hill, whilst William Gilpin, 'Observations on the Western Parts of England,' 1798,67 described the journey from Blue Anchor to Minehead in the manner of the Picturesque tradition. As with Turner the focus was North Hill. In the shifting perspective of mist, haze, seashore and sky, the hill assumed the sublime magical proportions that Gilpin likened to "Sibyl's temple at Tivoli." 68 Great Western writing reflected such perspectives, explicitly, in reference to Turner's work, in 'Holiday Haunts,' and, implicitly, in the company's detailed aesthetic appreciation of the land and seascapes of the Severn

Sea, that were so much a stylistic feature of 'Somerset Ways' in particular, and of wider company reference in general. Chapter Seven, 'The Sea Coast', 'Somerset Ways', 1928, opened with an extensive explanation of the general concept of the picturesque in liter-

ature and painting, the detail here being almost a transcript of Gilpin's definition of pic-

turesque perspectives, dating from the late eighteenth century - his 'Observations on the

Western Parts of England.'

Of the coastal perspective we read:

There is no land where one can see such sunsets as in the flats. And

here the going down is perfected because the sun sinks not into fields

or into the smoke of factories, but into the "broad water of the West"

itself, or behind that clear-cut mysterious ridge of transparent purple

which is Exmoor.69

Taking contrasting perspectives to heighten dramatic aesthetic qualities 'Somerset Ways'

proclaimed:

But there is beauty in every mile of it, first the beauty of open down-

land, cliff-footed, wooded in the hollows, sun-browned above; the

beauty of little promontories, rocky and bare, or hiding their shapes 232

beneath a canopy of wind-swept trees and underbush.70

Thereafter, the writer embarked upon an unrestricted portrait in the picturesque manner, setting Great Western aesthetic affiliations into clear reference and precedent.

... and down the channel is the superlative beauty of the sea flats...

great stretches of glistening shore ribbed with the long, dark lines of

wandering creeks here at sundown the whole world, land and water,

swims into a mist of gold backed by the changing glory of the sky ...

transparent red, flecked with clouds black in their bulk, gold-tinged

toward their edges and silver and pearl pink where detached whiffs

float listlessly across the great clear dome in the still evening air.7I

The romantic nature of this diffuse spectacle of land, sea and sky presented the contemplative with every opportunity to indulge in the initiate, highly exclusive process of aesthetic appreciation and cultural affiliation. By removing strict definition of land, sea and sky, the resultant diffused perspective opened out the experience to numerous possibilities in terms of its interpretation and significance. Perceived as an aesthetic experience or that of metaphysical dimensions, this was the literature of received reception and exclusive expression. In its celebration of the Blue Anchor of the camping coach and seaside holiday and that of the perspectives of Turner and Gilpin, Somerset, for the

G.W.R., represented "all things to all men."72 The latter as a statement both of demarcation, indicative of the sub-text of hierarchical delineation and as the celebration of the popularist concept of the carefree democracy, characterised the complex and seemingly paradoxical nature of the G.W.R. literature. Likewise, the Celtic construction of

Glastonbury in an otherwise definitive landscape of pastoral, rural England; the conver- gence of the 'Southern' and 'Western' metaphors. 233

REFERENCES - CHAPTER EIGHT

Somerset: The County Concept

D.B. Barton. A History of Copper Mining in Cornwall and Devon, Bradford Barton, Truro, 1961. D.B. Barton. The Cornish Beam Engine, Bradford Barton, Truro, 1965. Edmund Vale, The Harveys Of Hayle, Bradford Barton, Truro, 1966.

2/ John Pearce. The Wesleys In Cornwall, Bradford Barton, Truro. 1964.

3/ Maxwell Fraser. The Golden West Of England, G.W.R. 1930. P5.

4/ G.W.R. Through The Window. Paddington To Penzance, 1924. P51.

5/ S.P.B. Mais. Holiday Haunts, G.W.R. 1939. P577.

6/ Ibid P577.

7/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1934. P593.

8/ G.W.R. Somerset Ways, 1928. P70.

9/ Ibid P64.

10/ Ibid P67.

11/ Ibid P41.

12/ Edward Thomas. The South Country, Hutchinson and Co. 1909.

13/ Somerset Ways P40.

14/ Ibid P41.

15/ Maxwell Fraser, Somerset, G.W.R., 1934. P29.

16/ Ibid P29.

17/ Somerset Ways P42.

18/ Fraser, Somerset P73.

19/ Ibid P73. 234

20/ Somerset Ways P33.

21/ Ibid P33.

22/ Ibid P35.

23/ Ibid P35.

24/ Ibid P35.

25/ M.R. James. Abbeys, G.W.R. 1925.

26/ Somerset Ways P34.

27/ Patrick Wright. On Living In An Old Country, Verso, London. 1985.

28/ Somerset Ways P35.

29/ Holiday Haunts 1937 P649. See also Wonderful Wessex, 1908 P40.

30/ Ward-Lock Guidebook, Weston-Super-Mare, 1924. P34 (Part Two)

31/ Holiday Haunts, 1937. P582.

32/ G.W.R. Magazine, August, 1934. P406.

33/ Ibid July P363.

34/ Ibid P364.

35/ Naomi Royd-Smith. Pilgrim From Paddington, Arthur Barker Ltd., London. 1934. P326.

36/ Ibid P328.

37/ Ibid P329.

38/ Ibid P330.

39/ Maxwell Fraser, Somerset. P81.

40/ Ibid P82.

41/ Ibid P85.

42/ A.M. Broadley. Wonderful Wessex, G.W.R., 1908. P144.

43/ Ibid P17, 235

44/ Maxwell Fraser. Somerset, P134.

45/ Ibid P134.

46/ Somerset Ways P8.

47/ Ibid P13.

48/ Ibid P13.

49/ G.W.R. Magazine, July, 1935.

50/ Ibid P407.

51/ Ibid P409.

52/ Ibid P410.

53/ Holiday Haunts, 1937, P618.

54/ Ibid P583.

55/ Ibid 1936 edition, P577.

56/ Ibid 1937 P594.

57/ Maxwell Fraser. Somerset. P113.

58/ Holiday Haunts, 1937, P594.

59/ Ward-Lock Guide, Weston-Super-Mare, 1924. P13.

60 Ibid P18.

61/ G.W.R. Magazine, August, 1927. P311.

62/ Maxwell Fraser, Somerset. P114.

63/ Ward-Lock Guide, Weston-Super-Mare, 1934. P4.

64/ Holiday Haunts, 1937, P622.

65/ G.W.R. Magazine, July, 1936. P317.

66/ Holiday Haunts, 1939. P579.

67/ William Gilpin, Observations on the Western Parts Of England. Relating Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, London. 1798. 236

68/ Ibid P170. See also PP166/7 and Gilpin's discussion of 'The Scenery of Vapour.'

69/ Somerset Ways P45.

70/ Ibid P44.

71/ Ibid P44.

72/ Holiday Haunts, 1934. P595. 237

Conclusion

The G.W.R. literature reveals a complex configuration which, as this thesis argues, was a collective construction engaging central issues within the cultural agenda of the first four decades of the twentieth century. It addresses the historical, political, economic and aesthetic dimensions of national representation and, in so doing, identifies themes of past and present, continuity and change - definitive issues within the inter-war years in particular, given the impact of the Great War and the anxieties and perceived fault-lines of industrial society. The company set its literary focus on that of an overall perspective of Englishness and Empire as defined within the spectrum of past, present and future, indicating its mainstream identification within national representation, not least, for the rival conceptions of Empire that characterised the period.

In constructing a synthesis of past and present and seeking to reconcile continuity and change, the literature inevitably engaged the Little England-Greater Britain debate.

This, in the context of the international situation, politically and militarily, drove the issue of essential national imagery and identity, often polarised into that of either a rural or industrial character. This work has emphasised the company's focus on concepts of interaction, assimilation and fusion wherein the rural and industrial characterisations were reconciled. Therein, the central role of place marketing and image building has also been stressed. The thematic link of rural England with industrial progression and, indeed, Empire has been identified with Stanley Baldwin's perspective of accommodation, that of a perceived harmonious, organic development as suggested in an ideal of

'progressive conservatism'. As in Baldwin's outlook, the G.W.R. identified the sense of national mission, inheritance and historic destiny as fundamental to the concept and character of Englishness. Celebrated through historical, political and aesthetic experience, Englishness embraced reflective, elegaic properties but it was essentially robust 238 and internationally orientated.

The G.W.R.'s American-orientated literature and that of the 'Celtic' construction confirms Benedict Anderson's concept of imagined communities. In both cases, the language of belonging and authority are paramount. Amongst the innumerable references to "us, we, our, they" and so on, the essential agenda of community defined by demarcation - Anglo-Saxon English Speaking Peoples in the American-orientated works and the evident ethnicised, gendered discourse of the Celtic construction - there was an almost complete disregard of disparate influences considered in terms of rivals or alternative cultural traditions. The 'community', however, was always a relative, condition- al creation.

Empire identifications, no matter how enthusiastically pursued, were historically- defined and therefore subject to change. The G.W.R.'s focus upon imagery of the

Greater Britain orientation had to reconcile problematic representations of ethnicity and cultural authority. Its North American interests, for example, in underlining a shared inheritance and common cultural tradition - a construction of deeply complex characterisations of English and Celtic identities - were as much expedients, commercially and politically, as expressions of authority and influence. Imperial perspectives of commerce and trade must also be contextualised by reference to losses and decline in international trade and to greater, enforced reliance on Empire. Likewise, the increasing problems over the maintenance of power in the international situation of the thirties, in particular.

Richard Overy, 'The Road To War', 1989, 2 noted: "The Empire of the 1920s was perceived as a powerful vindication of the liberal belief in progress and civilisation." 3 This was the Baldwinite agenda but, as Overy also observed: 'Peace, the first British interest', was a maxim born not merely of a moral view of foreign policy but of necessity."4

The G.W.R.'s representation of the Empire in terms of 'family' imagery has been noted and paralleled with that of the Empire Marketing Board but, as John Mackenzie emphasised, it was a construction that propounded stereotypes - "climactic, national and 239 racial."5 Grand imperial ceremonial, as in the Empire Exhibitions of 1924 and 1925 or the Coronation in 1937, for example, provided ideal opportunities for the spectacle and, indeed, rhetoric of Empire but, in the G.W.R. literature, as in British society generally, the character of imperial enterprise was significantly less strident and celebratory than that of the years prior to the Great War.

The American-orientated material reveals this in the form of an increasing

American authority within the perceived Anglo-American cultural relationship. As discussed in Chapter Five, the G.W.R. ceded authority - that of the perceived Anglo-Saxon inheritance - to American ownership, an appropriation expressed in the shifting perspectives of theme and style. A comparison of the early A.M. Broadley works for the

American market, up to 1914, with later publications, as in Maxwell Fraser's 'England

And Why', 1932, reflects this as, indeed, did the explicit statements from the company on the need to attract increased numbers of North American tourists. Maxwell Fraser's

Introduction to her 'Southern Ireland' 1932, in turn, addressed an agenda of changing focus, emphasising "the amazing improvements effected even in the short time since the

Irish Free State Government was created" and recognised "how sincere and far-seeing are Southern Ireland's new rulers...." in blending "the best of the ancient and modern worlds."6 Progressive, modernised tourist agendas for American visitors to Britain and

Ireland were increasingly linked to itineraries that served the North American focus upon its discovery, recovery or appropriation of history and heritage. Fraser's Introduction, alone, distinguishes her work - politically, culturally, thematically - from that of

Broadley's earlier "Playground of Empire."7

The G.W.R.'s seaside perspectives also reflect the widespread development of the tourist industry to the outbreak of World War Two. They exemplify the highly structured nature of leisure pursuits in terms of location, the ordering and social delineations of person, place and event and, indeed, the increasing role of recreational pursuits and of their character during the inter-war era. The Southern Railway material, incorporated in terms 240 of thematic counterpoint to the G.W.R., has indicated several distinguishing features between the two companies in respect of focus and style. This, of course, reflects the detailed and complex formulation of the seaside experience, which could be augmented considerably by reference to the two other major companies, the L.N.E.R. and the

L.M.S. - a project too ambitious, however, for present purposes.

The G.W.R.'s comprehensive, collective projection of national-imperial representations distinguished its literature amongst the four railway companies. In its style and thematic structure it engaged central questions of national and international resonance, grounded in the perception of historic identity and Empire. In final reference, we can instance the company's imagery of London, which was noticeably different from the other companies in its thematic focus. In a representation that embraces Anthony

Smith's work on the imagery of 'high' and 'low' "garden" and "wild" cultures,8

'Holiday Haunts', 1936, for example, described London as "more than the hub of the greatest Empire that has ever been; it is the concentrated essence of the centuries and an epitome of British history."9 In this context of effective citizenship it identified the many dimensions of national experience and imagery exemplified in the city: not least that of the urban-rural dialogue that was so evident throughout the G.W.R. literature in the properties of assimilation and fusion: "... the greatest city in the world breathes the very spirit of the country village in the majority of its place-names....." Likewise, "if the visitor has even a slight acquaintance with English history a whole world of interest is opened to his wondering eyes .... its history is so plainly written for all to see that the mere noting of street and place-names yields to the passer-by an infinity of interest." 10 In further emphasising the religious and literary landmarks of the city, 'Holiday Haunts' intensified the sense of a landscape of inheritance and identification comprising a statement of progress and development which united past and present and rural and urban experience within a national-international configuration of cultural authority. 241

References

Conclusion

1/ H.V. Morton. In Search Of Ireland PPs 187, 191, 194

2/ Richard Overy. The Road To War, Penguin, London 1989 P75. Overy's work stresses the role of Empire in British history in the inter-war era: "Britain took a global rather than a European view of her responsibilities" P76. For its own purpose, this was, likewise, the G.W.R.'s cultural agenda.

3/ Ibid P75

4/ Ibid P75

5/ John Mackenzie ed. Imperialism and Popular Culture P186. Overy supports this by contrasting the realities of "civil war, nationalist resentments and tribal violence" with "the illusion of imperial harmony and British moral ascendancy." P75

6/ Maxwell Fraser. Southern Ireland, 1932. P8

7/ A.M. Broadley. Southern Ireland, 1904. P88

8/ Anthony Smith. History, Modernity And Nationalism, 1996. Article/Extract. Representing The Nation, A Reader. Ed David Boswell and Jessica Evans. Routledge, London. 1999.

9/ G.W.R. Holiday Haunts, 1936 P42

10/ Ibid P41 242

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Great Western Railway Publications, Paddington

The Great Western Railway Magazine 1888 - 1947

Holiday Haunts 1906 - 1947

The Cornish Riviera. A.M. Broadley 1904

Historic Sites And Scenes Of England. A.M. Broadley 1904

Southern Ireland. Its Lakes and Landscapes. A.M. Broadley 1904

South Wales. The Country Of Castles. A.M. Broadley 1905

Devon. The Shire of the Sea Kings. A.M. Broadley 1906

North Wales. The British Tyrol. A.M. Broadley 1906

The Cathedral Line of England. Its Sacred Sties and Shrines. A.M. Broadley 1908

Wonderful Wessex. Wilts, Somerset and Dorset. A.M. Broadley 1908

Beautiful Britanny. A.M. Broadley 1909

Rural London. The Chalfont Country and the Thames Valley. A.M. Broadley 1909

Places of Pilgrimage For American Travellers. 1913 and 1914

Legend Land (Four Volumes) `Lyonesse' 1922-23

The Glories Of The Thames 1923

The Severn Valley 1923

Cardigan Bay Resorts 1924

Cathedrals. G.E. Beer 1924

Commerce and the Great Western Railway 1924

The Cornish Riviera. Its Scenery Attractions and Historical Associations 1924

Cotswolds Ways. F.V.M. 1924 243

Devon. The Lovely Land Of The Mayflower 1924

The Ocean Coast 1924

The Wye Valley 1924 (Two Volumes)

Shakespeare Land. The World's Greatest Travel Shrine 1924

Somerset Ways 1924

Souvenir Of The Great Western Railway. British Empire Exhibition Wembley 1924

Sunny Cornwall. England's Mediterranean Region 1924

Through The Window Vol I. Paddington to Penzance 1924

Wessex White Horses. D.V. Levien 1924

Winter Resorts on the G.W.R. 1924

Wonderful Wessex. The Homeland of Thomas Hardy, William Barnes and John Lothrop Motley 1924

Abbeys. M/R. James 1925

From Cave Man To Roman in Britain c1925

Haunts and Hints for Anglers. Sea Angling 1925

Handbook for Travellers from Overseas 1925

Through The Window II. Paddington to Birkenhead 1925

Through The Window III. Paddington to Killarney 1926

Castles. Charles Oman 1926

Southern Ireland. Lakes and Landscapes 1927

The Channel Islands. G.W.R./S.R. 1927

Twixt Rail and Sea. W.G. Chapman 1927

Great Western Railway Of England 1937 - 1927. The Quickest Route New York To London via Plymouth 1927

The Cornish Riviera. S.P.B. Mais 1928 244

Glorious Devon. S.P.B. Mais 1928

Oxford and Shakespeare Land 1928

Pembrokeshire and South West Wales. A.G. Bradley 1930

Rambles in the Chiltern Country. Hugh E. Page 1931

Southern Ireland. Maxwell Fraser 1932

Rambles in South Devon. Hugh E. Page 1932

Rambles in Shakespeare Land and the Cotswolds. Hugh E. Page 1933

Cheltenham Flyer. W.G. Chapman 1934

Somerset. Maxwell Fraser 1934

Rambles and Walking Tours in Somerset. Hugh E. Page 1935

The Cotswold Country. Maxwell Fraser 1936

Rambles Around the Cambrian Coast. Hugh E. Page 1936

Rambles and Walking Tours in The Wye Valley. Hugh E. Page 1938

Next Station. Christian Barman. Allen and Unwin Ltd. for the G.W.R. 1947

Not detailed individually are the many G.W.R. pamphlets and brochures that were published seasonally and were, invariably, undated and unpaginated eg country and regional promotions, resorts and special events. For detailed reference see the archive: Great Western Trust Collection, Didcot, Oxon.

Southern Railway Publications, Waterloo

By Cornish Sea and Moor. London South Western Railway 1915

My Finest Holiday. S.P.B. Mais 1927

The Atlantic Coast Express. S.P.B. Mais 1928

Walks In North Devon. S.P.B. Mais 1928

`Twixt' France and Spain 1929

Southern Rambles For Londoners. S.P.B. Mais 1931 245

Devon And Cornish Days. E.P. Leigh Bennett 1935

Walking At Weekends. S.P.B. Mais 1936

Lets Get Out Here. S.P.B. Mais 1937

Hints For Holidays Annual Editions 1923 - 1947

Southern Railway Magazine 1923 - 1947

London Midland and Scottish Railway Publications

Holidays By L.M.S. 1929 and 1938 editions

London North Eastern Railway Publications

The Holiday Handbook 1924 and 1939 editions

Enjoying England. A Book About An Enchanted Island. B.L. Warde. 1931

Notes for American Visitors. The Holiday Series. c1930

Metropolitan Railway Publications

Metroland 1924 and 1932 editions

British Railways' Publications

Holiday Guide Western Region 1949

Holiday Guide Southern Region 1949

Holiday Guide Eastern England 1952

Holiday Haunts Western Region 1959

Sands Across The Sea. Brittany, Normandy. Picardy 1958

Public Record Office Rail

Railway Clearing House Records

Minutes of Meetings of Advertising (Publicity) 246

Representatives. Rail Clearing House. P.R.O. Rail 1080: 581-589, 1919 - 1940

G.W.R. Records

Rail 267:370.1909. Proposed absorption of the London and South Western Railway. L.S.W.R. by the Great Western Railway, G.W.R.

Rail 268:128 1914. G.W.R. Homes For All in London's Western Borderlands.

Southern Railway

Rail 652:29 1934. Country Homes At London's Door

Rail 652:32 1935. Southern Homes.

General Guide Books - By Company, chronologically

Samuel Johnson. Journey To The Western Isles Of Scotland. London 1775

James Boswell. The Journal Of A Tour To The Hebrides With Samuel Johnson, LLD. London 1776

Penguin Classics ed. Penguin Books. London 1984

Rev. William Gilpin. Observations on the River Wye, And Several Parts of South Wales etc., relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty. London 1782

Rev. William Gilpin. Observations on the Western Parts of England relative chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, to which are added a few remarks on the Picturesque Beauty of the Isle of Wight.. London 1798

Rev. G.D. Whittington. An Historical Survey of the Ecclesiastical Antiquities of France with a view to illustrate The Rise And Progress of Gothic Architecture in Europe. London 1811

Tourist's Guide To South Devon. Rail, Road, River, Coast And Moor. R.N. Worth, Edward Stanford. London 1878

Tourist's Guide To North Devon and The Exmoor District. R.N. Worth, Edward Stanford. London 1894

Black's Watering Places. Where Shall We Go? A Guide To The Healthiest And Most Beautiful Watering Places In The British Isles. A.C. Black. Edinburgh 1869, 6th ed. 247

Nelson. Handbook To the Isles Of Wight. Its History. Topography And Antiquities. W.H. Davenport-Adams, T. Nelson And Sons. London 1877

Seaside Watering Places. A Description of the various Holiday Resorts On The Coasts Of England And Wales, The Channel Islands and The Isles of Man. Upcott Gill. London 1904

Highways And Byways. Thomas Hardy's Wessex. Macmillan. London 1913

The Ward-Lock Guide. Ward-Lock and Company Ltd. London

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To Torquay, Paignton, Dartmouth, Totnes, 1897

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To Dartmoor: Its Tors, Antiquities and Rivers, 1899

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To the Isles Of Wight, 1906

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To Eastbourne, Pevensey and Seaford, 1918

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To Malvern, 1921

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To Bath, Cheddar, Wells and Glastonbury, 1924

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To Weston-Super-Mare, 1924

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To Plymouth, 1924

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To Southsea and Portsmouth, 1934

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To Weston-Super-Mare, 1934

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To Bournemouth, 1934

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To Eastbourne, 1935

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To The Thames, 1934

A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide To The Isle Of Wight, 1937

Guide To Brighton, c1950

Guide To Cork, Killarney And South-West Ireland, c1950

Guide To The Cotswolds, c1950

Guide To Paignton And South Devon, c1950 248

Guide To Warwick And Shakespeare's Warwickshire, c1950

The Homeland Handbooks, Homeland Association Ltd. London Chronological order of publication

Lyonesse. A Handbook for the Isles of Scilly. J.C. Tonkin and B. Prescott Row. Forward Sir Walter Besant 1897

Newquay. Vol 27. Beatrix Cresswell 1902

The Quantock Hills. Vol 35. Beatrix Cresswell 1904

Lynton, Lynmouth and the Lorna Doone Country, Vol 37. Beatrix Cresswell c1904

Minehead, Vol 18. Beatrix Cresswell 1909

Bude, Vol 27. Beatrix Cresswell 1909

Penzance, Vol 85. Beatrix Cresswell 1915

Liskeard and Looe, Vol 81. Arthur Henry Anderson c1926

Sidmouth, Vol 95. Beatrix Cresswell 1926

St. Ives, Vol 78. Beatrix Cresswell c1930

Related Contemporary Literature

Matthew Arnold. The Study Of Celtic Literature. Smith, Elder and Co., London. 1891

Stanley Baldwin. On England 1926 Penguin Books, London. 1937

A.G. Bradley. The Rivers and Streams of England. A.C. Black, London. 1909

Arthur Bryant. English Saga 1840-1940. Collins, London. 1940

E.T. Booke and Alexandra Weddenburg. The Works of John Ruskin. George Allen, London. 1905

Claude Hart. The Cornish Riviera By The G.W.R. Forward by H. Thomas, Managing Director, 'The Cornishman' Group of Amalgamated Newspapers. No listed publisher, c1920

MAG. Jessett. The Bond Of Empire, Sampson Low Marston and Co. Ltd., London. 1902 249

H.J. Massingham. English Downland. Batsford, London. 1936

H.J. Massingham. The Cotswold Country. Batsford, London. 1937

H.V. Morton. In Search Of England. Methuen, London. 1927

H.V. Morton. In Search Of Ireland. Methuen, London. 1930

H.V. Morton. In Search Of Wales. Methuen, London. 1932

J.B. Priestley. English Journey William Heinemann Ltd., London. 1934. Penguin 1977

J.B. Priestley Introduction. The Beauty Of Britain. Batsford, London. 1935

M.B. Reckitt and J.V. Langmead Casserley. The Vocation Of England, Longmans, London. 1941

Ernest Rhys ed. The Old Country. A Book of Love and Praise of England. Dent, London. 1917

Naomi Royd-Smith. Pilgrim From Paddington. Arthur Barker Ltd., London. 1934

J.R. Seeley. The Expansion of England. Two Courses of Lectures. Macmillan, London. 1883

Edward Thomas. The South Country. Hutchinson and Co., London. 1909

G.M. Trevelyan. English Social History. Longmans, London. 1942

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Anthony Aldgate and Jeffrey Richards. Best Of British. Cinema and Society from 1930 to the Present. I.B. Tauris, London and New York. 1999

Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas G. Brinkley. Rise To Globalism. Penguin Putnam Inc. New York. 1971

Benedict Anderson. Imaginary Communities, Verso, London and New York. 1983

Correlli Barnett. The Collapse Of British Power. Eyre Methuen, 1972. Sutton Publishing, Stroud. 1984

Correlli Barnett. The Audit Of War. The Illusion and Reality of Britain As A Great Nation. Macmillan, London. 1986. Pan Books, London. 1996 250

John Barre11. The Dark Side Of The Landscape. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1980

D.B. Barton. A History Of Copper Mining In Cornwall and Devon. Bradford Barton, Truro. 1961

D.B. Barton. The Cornish Beam Engine. Bradford Barton, Truro. 1965

John Bayliss. Anglo-American Relations Since 1939.. The Enduring Alliance. Manchester University Press, Manchester. 1997

.S.T. Bindoff. Tudor England. Penguin Books, London. 1950

Daniel J. Boorstin. The Americans: The Colonial Experience. Vintage Books, New York. 1958

David Boswell and Jessica Evans Ed. Representing The Nation: A Reader. Routledge, London. 1999

David Brett. The Construction Of Heritage. Cork University Press, Cork. 1996

Terence Brown. Ireland: A Social and Cultural History 1922-1985, Fontana, London. 1981

Roger Burdett Wilson. Go Great Western. A History Of G.W.R. Publicity, David and Charles, Newton Abbot. 1970

Angus Calder. The Myth Of The Blitz. Jonathan Cape. 1991. Pimlico, London. 1992

D. Cameron-Watt. Succeeding John Bull. America in Britain's Place. 1900-1975, Cambridge. 1984

David Cannadine. G.M. Trevelyan. A Life in History. Penguin Books, London. 1992

E.H. Carr. What Is History? Macmillan 1961. Pelican Books, London. 1964

Peter N. Carroll and David W. Noble. The Free And The Unfree, Penguin Books, London. 1977

Alfred Cobban. Ideas And Beliefs Of The Victorians. E.P. Dutton and Co. Inc., 1966. Joseph Chamberlain quoted in essay: 'The Idea Of Empire'

Beverley Cole and Richard Durack. Railway Posters 1923-1947. N.R.M. York. King, London. 1992 251

Linda Colley. Britons. Forging The Nation 1707-1837. Vintage, London. 1992 Bruce Collins and Keith Robbins. ed. British Culture And Economic Decline. Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London. 1990

R. Coils and P. Dodd. Englishness: Politics and Culture. 1880-1920. Croom Helm, London. 1986

I. Cook, D. Crouch, S. Naylor and J.R. Ryan ed. Cultural Turns/Geographical Turns: Perspectives on Cultural Geography. Prentice Hall, London. 2000

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254

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Academic Papers and Journals

John Beckerson. Making Leisure Pay: The Business of Tourist Marketing In Great Britain 1880-1950. Journal of Business Archives No. 76 pp1-11, November 1998.

Ian Carter. Rain, Steam and What? Oxford Art Journal, 20 February 1997

Geoffrey Channon. Railways And English Landed Society: The Case Of The Great Western. Presented, Institute of Railway Studies, York, December. 1998

Geoffrey Channon. The recruitment of directors to the board of the Great Western Railway VII Journal of Transport History (I) 17/1 March, 1996, ppl-19, (II) 20/1 March, 1999 pp 1-16

Michael Freeman. The railway as cultural metaphor. What kind of railway history? revisited. Journal of Transport History 20/2 pp 160-167. 1999

Terry Gourvish What kind of railway history did we get? Forty years of research. Journal of Transport History 14, pp 111-125. 1993 256

Ralph Harrington. Perceptions of the locomotive driver: image and identity on British Railways, c1840 - c1950. Institute of Railway Studies, York, September. 1999

George Revill Working the system: journeys through corporate culture in the 'railway age'. Environment and Planning D. Society and Space. Volume 12 pp705-725. 1994

George Revill. Liberalism and paternalism: politics and corporate culture in 'Railway Derby', 1965-1875. Social History, Volume 24 No. 2 May. 1999

Newspapers

The Cornishman, Penzance, 12 March 1928 26 January 1938

Newquay Express, Newquay 19 January 1928 14 March 1929 22 February 1934 17 February 1938

Cornwall County Council References

'Come To Cornwall Guide', The Come To Cornwall Association Ltd. County Offices, Truro

Planning Office Maps. Population and Unemployment No's. 5-10

These local sources materials are available at the Cornish Studies Library, Clinton Road, Redruth, Cornwall.